Bill Bretherton is a passionate Europhile. This is his story. It spans five decades, one continent and a host of characters that confirm and erode his views; the back-stabbing politicians, volatile Suffolk fishermen, scheming Sicilian Mafiosi, his old pal Teddy Heath and the girl from the Ministry who he is totally in love with.

Robert Schuman was the French Foreign Minister who, in 1950, attempted to build a permanent peace in Europe through a plan to unite it economically.

The Schuman Plan is the world premiere of a work commissioned by Hampstead theatre.