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 new debut play and production seeks to present the case and its events on their merits and explore 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. The Isle of Wight company 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.

Award-winning Isle of Wight company Deadman’s debut, fresh from sell-out tours to coastal communities tour and across the south east in 2023 and 2024 is now arriving on a national tour in 2026. Led by IOWers artistic director Samuel Bossman, playwright Liam Patrick Harrison’s full-length debut is a detailed and rich theatrical investigation into the men’s tragic downfall and coastal communities. #FreedomForTheFreshwaterFive

Join us for a special post-show Q&A with Emily Bolton, solicitor for The Freshwater Five and founder and executive director of APPEAL.

Emily trained as an investigator on US death-row cases and was founder and director of Innocence Project New Orleans. She has spent over a decade transforming British criminal appeals through rigorous, boots-on-the-ground investigation and by taking cases into the court of public opinion - most notably securing the exoneration of Andrew Malkinson in 2023.

Expect a powerful conversation about justice, systemic failure, and why stories like The Freshwater Five matter at Theatre Royal Wakefield on 4 March.