Karl Collins will return to his home town to take on the lead role in Shebeen, a play which centres on Nottingham’s Caribbean community in the late 1950s, when it has its world première at Nottingham Playhouse.
Born in Clifton, Collins, who went to Nottingham’s Central Junior Television Workshop, is currently on the small screen playing Louis Loveday in Hollyoaks. Before that he was Detective Constable Danny Glaze in The Bill. He said Shebeen would be a “brilliant” show.
“It’s a fictional story based on historical facts—not many people seem to realise that some of the largest race riots outside London happened in Nottingham.
“A Jamaican couple, Pearl and George, are helping Caribbean migrants to cut loose by hosting a forbidden party at their shebeen—an illegal bar set up in someone’s home that sells illicit alcohol. Tempers are flaring and teddy boys are on the march.
“Although it’s set in the ‘50s, a lot of the messages of race and immigration are very relevant today and it’s something most people have an opinion on and can relate to in some way—particularly with the current Windrush scandal.
“It’s also close to home for me; my family moved to the UK in the ‘60s, so I’ll be catching up with my mum about her memories as part of my research for the show. Sadly, my dad is no longer with us, but I remember him mentioning fighting off teddy boys once—so I’m intrigued about the details of what people went through.”
Nottingham author Mufaro Makubiko won the 2017 Alfred Fagon award for best new play for Shebeen. The award is open to any playwright of Caribbean or African descent resident in the UK for the best original, new stage play in English.
Collins plays George. The rest of the cast comprises Martina Laird (Pearl), Rolan Bell (Earnest), Hazel Ellerby (Mrs Clark), Chloe Harris (Mary), Karl Haynes (Sergeant Williams), Adam Rojko Vega (Constable Reed / Robert Dunne), Theo Solomon (Linford) and Danielle Walters (Gayle).
Matthew Xia directs. Designer is Grace Smart, lighting designer is Ciarán Cunningham, Richard Hammarton is sound designer and composer and Rachael Nanyonjo is movement director. Dramaturg is Kirsty Patrick Ward, fight director is Kev McCurdy and Hazel Holder is dialect coach.
Shebeen runs at Nottingham Playhouse from Friday 1 until Saturday 16 June. It then transfers to Theatre Royal Stratford East from Wednesday 20 June until Saturday 7 July.