The Freshwater Five at Theatre Severn Shrewsbury

Five Fishermen. £53 million worth of cocaine. An ongoing fight for justice.

In 2011, five fishermen on the Isle of Wight (Jamie Green, Jon Beere, Daniel Payne, Scott Birtwistle and Zoran Dresic) were sentenced to a total of 104 years for conspiracy to import £53m worth of cocaine. They have always professed their innocence.

A tale that has long divided our Isle of Wight community. This powerful play seeks to present the case and its events on their merits, exploring the state of our coastal communities. Inspired by the wildly popular Guardian Today in Focus podcast, The Freshwater Five incorporates spectacular storytelling, verbatim accounts, inventive stagecraft, poetry and song.

Fresh from sell-out tours to coastal communities and across the south-east in 2023 and 2024, award-winning Isle of Wight company Deadman delves into subjects of historical and contemporary smuggling, deteriorating coastal communities, immigration, and folklore, as well as examining this ancient profession’s place in our times.

Artistic director Samuel Bossman and playwright Liam Patrick Harrison’s full-length debut asks the fundamental question: innocent fishermen or international drug smugglers?