Actors' research into local Borough of Tower Hamlets history and geography for use in the play

Actors researched into the Borough on foot, talking to residents and people who work in the Borough for inspiration for character studies, visiting local cultural centres, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Ideas Stores and amenities and using the internet to research local history. Particular scenarios included:
> the crimes of Jack the Ripper in the East End
> transportations to Australia from the Royal Victoria Dock (near the Tower of London), 1750s onwards
> the matchgirls' strike, 1888
> Huguenot dress shop, Brick Lane, 1700s
> deportation of asylum seekers, 2010
> mental asylum, Barmy Park, Bethnal Green
> the Bethnal Green tube station disaster, 1943

Local characters:
> Rev Osborn Jay, of Holy Trinity, Bethnal Green, 1896
> Thomas Heaht, 28, Huguenot weaver, 1824
> Mary Ann Nicholls, 'Polly', flower seller, 1882
> Angela Burdett-Coutts, local philanthropist and founder of the NSPCC
> Mary Jane Kelly, victim of Jack the Ripper, died aged 25, 1888
> Hannah Billick, 1901-1987, doctor, 'the Angel of Cable Street'
> Sylvia Pankhurst, suffragette

Contemporary characters:
> Whitechapel man, 69
> Young Muslim woman
> Volunteer in a community church
> Young artist exhibiting work in Whitechapel Art Gallery
> Security guard at tube station
> Youth mayor
> Elderly woman at bus stop

Individual research documents:
> A friend in my retreat
> Annie Besant and the matchgirls' strike
> At a sugar baking
> Bethnal Green fever
> Dwellings of the poor in Bethnal Green
> The Whitechapel murders
> Crime in East London
> The pubs of Whitechapel
> Tower Hamlets 1888
> Whitechapel Road on a Saturday night
> Rev Osborn Jay