Review: THE LAST SHIP at Theatre Royal Drury Lane

With (what the programme calls) “…a new book by Barney Norris, from a book by Lorne Campbell, based on an original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey”, the musical showcases Sting’s music and lyrics in this gritty, northern, dockyard-based tale. Set during the Thatcher era in which the future of the unionised shipyard workers hangs in the balance (and looks set to follow the fate of miners and steel workers), the townsfolk have grown used to the stability and routine of building and launching ships onto the Tyne. With its completion behind schedule, Utopia could be the last, as delays have caught the attention of the Tory minister who appoints government contracts. She has decided to cancel all future orders and that the time is right to bring the workers to heel.

Returning to the town he left behind seventeen years before, Gideon (Declan Bennett) is on leave from the Royal Marines. He faces the painful truth that he will never be reconciled with his father who recently died. He also learns that the girl he loved, Meg (Frances McNamee), was pregnant with their daughter Ellen (Hannah Richardson) when he left all those years ago. Meanwhile Jackie White (Sting) is the voice behind whom the dockers and their families rally when the shipyard is threatened with closure. His wife Peggy (Jackie Morrison) provides support and stability as he gradually succumbs to lung cancer having been constantly observed from the shadows by the looming presence of The Wallsend Ferryman (Shaggy on press night) who legend dictates, accompanies the souls of the departed shipyard workers.

Despite a further fourteen players coming and going for the larger company numbers, it is Sting’s ballads and intricately penned duets which catch the ear and add poignancy to the otherwise stoic characters. However, for all the beautiful onstage timbres (most notably delivered by Bennett and McNamee), the true star of the evening is the magnificent and omnipresent projection of the huge ship’s dry-docked stern. It constantly changes as the light moves and workers attend the steel plates with arc-welders or move up and down before its titanic façade on various lifted and lowered steel girders. From a directorial perspective, it has the effect of focusing (or limiting?) the action, requiring everyone to play downstage centre but it also plays to the no-nonsense light and dark themes of good and bad, right and wrong, guilt and contrition, which flow through the simple but engaging narrative thread.

Sting was never an actor of any great note and here, he is outshone by the cocksure antics of Shaggy’s detached presence (although it should be noted that for the remainder of the run, the part of The Ferryman will be played by Lejaun Sheppard). But undoubtedly more noteworthy (and appropriately) the aforementioned musical theatre leads are given ample opportunity to shine and deliver the composer’s material afresh. Certainly the strains of When We Dance — which must surely have featured poignantly in the lives of millions who have experienced heartbreak — resonated beautifully in the context of the piece.

THE LAST SHIP may not be about to set the musical theatre world alight, but it has a great deal going for it and is far from a mere vanity project for a man who has achieved greatness many times over in a successful career spanning close to 50 years.

With a running time of just shy of 3 hours including interval, the production continues its limited run at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane until 3rd October.

The Last Ship Tickets