Overview

“Do you think dreams are wasted on people like us?”

It’s a hot and humid summer in 1958 St Ann’s, Nottingham. Tempers are flaring and Teddy Boys are on the march.

Jamaican couple Pearl and George are helping Caribbean migrants to cut loose by hosting a forbidden party at their shebeen.

Pearl has dreams of opening a restaurant on the Wells Road. George, a retired boxer, has hung his dreams next to his gloves. A young interracial couple are falling in love and figuring out how to be together.

As tensions mount on a night filled with rum, calypso and dancing, and with the shebeen under threat from the police, everyone is forced to confront the uncomfortable truths their relationships are built upon.

Shebeen is the winner of The Alfred Fagon Award 2017 for best new play.