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In August 1989, 51 people died on the river Thames when the Dredger Bowbelle collided with the pleasure cruiser Marchioness. Now, eleven years later the truth has finally been revealed how this terrible tragedy came about. How and why did both the shipping companies become so lax in their safety procedures? Why were crews allowed to operate 1470 ton vessels under the influence of alcohol? Why did the authorities allow such a dangerous vessel to ply the Thames at all? Whey were hands removed from the bodies of the victims? Based on the revealing transcripts of the recent Public Investigation, the play dramatically reconstructs these hearings, with testimony from all the key witnesses involved, in a powerful and informative piece of theatre.