Despite not having encountered The Last Ship in any of its previous iterations (the Broadway run was in 2014-2015), it was reasonably easy to see where the revisions probably were. Gideon Fletcher (Declan Bennett) is a somewhat underwritten character, though one gets the feeling this was not always so: having joined the Royal Navy seventeen years ago, he returns to his hometown, which he vowed never to do until his father, with whom he did not get on well, was dead and buried. Thus, he didn’t even return for the funeral. But it remained something of a mystery as to why he returned at all, given a general acknowledgement that life on the Tyne wasn’t easy and was only going to get even harder. He had promised to return to Meg Dawson (Frances McNamee), which he technically did, although he had never before met his own daughter Ellen (Hannah Richardson), now herself on the cusp of adulthood… and a new life away from Wallsend herself.
It appears the show used to be far more steeped in religion than it is now. The Broadway production had a priest – this one doesn’t even have a prayer, although a scene in a church remains. It could have been excised altogether without consequence to the narrative arc. The Wallsend Ferryman (at this performance, Shaggy, the Jamaican-American reggae musician known for songs such as ‘Oh Carolina’ and ‘Boombastic’), apparently a new character, provided some feeling and atmosphere. But I couldn’t help agreeing with Joe Caffrey’s union leader character, Billy, telling Duane Gooden’s poetic Adrian that ‘nobody’ knew what he (Adrian) was going on about.
For a show both starring and having music and lyrics supplied by Sting, it was perhaps surprising that the show was very much an ensemble production. That said, this approach fits well with the strength of community in a close-knit neighbourhood – this was the sort of town where ‘everyone’ knew ‘everyone’, which made Meg’s statement about keeping a secret from the townspeople a curious one to say the least. The musical’s book has gone through several iterations, and it did feel from time to time that it could do with several more – or perhaps this is a case of ‘too many cooks’. Overall, the show has a very strong cast, and the production values are high, partly thanks to the use of some judicious video design. But I take the point that the show’s conclusion, which includes a full short movie of what the last ship of the show’s title looked like on completion, was so visual that it left nothing for the audience’s imagination.
In the first half, I couldn’t escape the feeling that the show needed more ‘oomph’, and while some of it arrived in the second half, it was occasionally jarring, especially when there was a song-and-dance against the backdrop of a tragedy. These were ridiculously joyful characters at the end of the show, given they had (the show’s title is a giveaway) lost their livelihoods. Still, as a quote attributed to Mark Twain puts it, “never let the truth get in the way of a good story”. There was a moment of astute self-knowing about the show’s place in the canon of musical theatre – mention of the struggles the mining community had a generation ago, as well as others, was suffixed by “and now it’s our turn”. This show follows the likes of Billy Elliot the Musical and Brassed Off in portraying a tumultuous period of manufacturing decline. Heartfelt and quirky in equal measure, but the holes in the plot haven’t quite been plugged yet.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Rooted in his own childhood in the British shipbuilding town of Wallsend, Sting’s musical, The Last Ship tells the moving story of a community of shipbuilders in the North East of England, faced with the closure of their shipyard – the heart of their existence.
Sting takes on the role of Jackie White, the shipyard’s foreman whose health is failing just as his leadership is needed most. In this very personal show, the artist immerses the audience in the hometown he was desperate to escape, a world where love, loss, and hope intertwine. Sting’s beloved songs such as ‘Island of Souls’, ‘All This Time’, and ‘When We Dance’ are woven into the performance in this fully staged, large-scale production.
Sting – Jackie White
Shaggy – The Wallsend Ferryman (22 and 23 September)
Declan Bennett – Gideon Fletcher
Frances McNamee – Meg Dawson
Jackie Morrison – Peggy White
Lejaun Sheppard – The Wallsend Ferryman (24 September to 3 October)
Olivia Mae Baker – Ensemble, u/s Ellen Dawson
Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong – Baroness Tynedale
Matt Beveridge – Freddy Newlands, u/s Gideon Fletcher
Lydia Boulton – Swing, Dance Captain
Joe Caffrey – Billy Thompson
Matthew Gent – Ensemble, u/s Billy Thompson
Duane Gooden – Adrian Sanderson, u/s The Wallsend Ferryman
Llandyll Gove – Swing / Resident Director
Helen Hill – Ensemble, u/s Meg and u/s Baroness Tynedale
Ediz Mahmut – Ensemble, u/s Adrian Sanderson and u/s Davey
Matthew McDonald – Ensemble, u/s Freddy Newlands
Grant Neal – Ensemble, u/s Jackie White
Hannah Richardson – Ellen Dawson
Adam Strong – Davey Harrison
Emma Thornett – Ensemble / Mrs Dees, u/s Peggy White
New book by Barney Norris
From a book by Lorne Campbell
Based on an original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey
Music and Lyrics – Sting
Direction, Set and Video Design by 59 Studio
Set and Props Designer – Jenny Melville
Costume Designer – Loren Elstein
Lighting Designer – Adam Bassett
Sound Designer – Tom Gibbons
Animation Director – Matt Taylor
Choreographer – Rebecca Howell
Video Designer – Benjamin Pearcy
Music Supervisor and Orchestrator – Rob Mathes
Musical Director and Co-Musical Supervisor – Richard John
Wigs, Hair and Make-Up Designer – Campbell Young Associates
Casting Director – Jill Green Casting
THE LAST SHIP
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
22 September to 3 October 2026
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