SHEBEEN
Directed by: Matthew Xia | Written by: Mufaro Makubika
SHEBEEN: CAST OF WINDRUSH GENERATION
PRODUCTION ANNOUNCED
• Full cast of Alfred Fagon award-winning play
Shebeen announced for its world premiere at
Nottingham Playhouse
• Nottingham-based play gives glimpse into
Windrush Generation experience
• Nottingham local Karl Collins to take the lead in
show based in his hometown
• Following the Nottingham run, the play transfers
to Theatre Royal Stratford East
Set in 1958 St Ann’s, Nottingham, Shebeen provides
a glimpse into the lives of the Caribbean community
in 1950s England and focusses on the uncomfortable
realities of racial tension within local communities.
Written by Nottingham local Mufaro Makubika, the
play follows the journey of Jamaican immigrant couple
George (Karl Collins) and Pearl (Martina Laird) and the
forbidden parties they throw at their shebeen - an illegal
bar set up in their home that sells illicit alcohol.
“In August 1958 in the district around the St Ann’s Wells
Road, tensions arose between the black and white
population resulting in riots over a number of weeks.
These riots actually preceded the more widely known
Notting Hill Riots.
“Alarmed, Norman Manley, then Premier of Jamaica
and Dr Carl La Corberniere, then Deputy Prime Minister
of the West Indies visited Nottingham to reassure the
Windrush generation and their children that they were
welcome.
“Everyone understands what it means to have a
dream. It’s a play about how we relate to each other
and how that’s linked to our individual dreams
for the future. It feels like we are having a lot of
difficulty relating to each other now.”
Shebeen runs from Friday 1 to Saturday 16 June 2018 at
Nottingham Playhouse and from Wednesday 20 June to
Saturday 7 July 2018 at Theatre Royal Stratford East.
When tempers flare and confrontation breaks out with
the Teddy Boys, the secret shebeen - and the escape it
provides for Caribbean migrants - comes under threat
from the police.
Young interracial couple Linford (played by Theo
Soloman) and Mary (Chloe Harris) are starting to
realise the extent of this conflict all too quickly. Still
learning how to be together and dealing with the scorn
of Mary’s disapproving mother (Hazel Ellerby), will their
relationship survive the external turmoil?
Karl Haynes will be taking to the stage as Sergeant
Williams, while Adam Rojko Vega will be playing
Constable Reed and Robert Dunne.
RI
He said: “Although Shebeen is a work of fiction it’s
inspired by true events.
Winner of the 2017 Alfred Fagon award for Best New
Play by a black British playwright, Mufaro Makubika
explains why the show is so relevant today and the
importance of telling a local story.
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Danielle Walters will be playing the role of young
Jamaican immigrant Gayle, joined by Rolan Bell as
Trinidadian immigrant Earnest.
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