Riot Street

“When you live round here, that’s what you do. It doesn’t phase you, death or violence or any of that shit. You just get on with it.”

The death of two young brothers struck the community of Ely, South Wales, and sparked a rage in their hearts. Ben and Elis, only thirteen and fifteen years old, were chased down by a police van while riding an e scooter which resulted in a traffic collision, described by the coroner as ‘violent and unnatural’. The resulting riots that followed left Snowden Road a warzone, with cars set ablaze and fifteen police officers injured. Speculation continues as the community questions whether the deaths really were an accident or the consequence of a long lived feud between the police and the people of Ely.

This play is based on the true events of a tragic accident in the style of a fictionalised first-hand retelling.