When you’re sitting in the iconic Theatre Royal Drury Lane watching a 17-time Grammy Award-winning rock icon performing his own material live on stage, it’s hard not to feel like you’re getting a once in a life time experience. And throw in (for two performances only), 90’s reggae pop star Shaggy (yes, that Shaggy), it’s a surreal and unusual evening out.
The newly reimagined version of Sting’s musical The Last Ship has finally arrived in the West End for a limited run, bringing with it a company of over fifty people. It is a story that has been rewritten, revised and reworked more times than I can count – and that may be the issue – has the message (in a bottle) been lost at sea?
THE SHOW
First developed in 2011 and inspired by Sting’s 1991 album The Soul Cages, The Last Ship tells the story of a tight-knit community of shipbuilders in the North East of England, facing the closure of the shipyard that has defined their town for generations.
Jackie White (Sting), the shipyard’s long-serving foreman, is facing failing health at the very moment his community needs him most, with his wife Peggy (Jackie Morrison) by his side. Long lost Gideon (Declan Bennett), who left seventeen years ago and swore never to come back while his abusive father was still alive, returns to find his beloved Meg (Frances McNamee) has built a life without him and that he has a seventeen-year-old daughter he knew nothing about.
At three hours, The Last Ship is long. Far too long. And given how many times this show has been rewritten, it’s surprising that its West End premiere still hasn’t quite found its way. The first fifteen minutes, in particular, could be cut entirely without losing anything essential, with the opening number of the show being about how the ship yard is being closed down.
There is also a sense that this is a show nobody has been quite willing to hand over to someone who could stand back, look at it and say how it could be improved. The result is a production that is frustratingly muddled about what it wants to say.
THE CAST
Declan Bennett as Gideon is warm but clearly carrying the weight of his years away and his scenes with Frances McNamee’s Meg have real emotional moments. Jackie Morrison brings a dignity to Peggy, the kind of role that could easily be overlooked if it were not played so stunningly well.
Sting himself, does what Sting does, commanding the room and you can feel it when he’s on stage.
Sting’s long friendship with reggae icon Shaggy (who has been performing the role of The Ferryman in productions of The Last Ship across New York, Amsterdam, Paris and Australia) has brought him to Drury Lane for just two performances. It is, on paper, a niche casting choice but on stage, he does the role justice. Shaggy is not just trading on Mr Boombastic nostalgia here; there’s a genuine presence to his performance that makes you understand why he’s been brought along for the journey. He’s fun to watch and earns his place in the show.
THE VERDICT
The Last Ship isn’t bad. It is clearly a story worth telling, with a wonderful cast who can tell it but three hours is a long time to spend looking for the story, even with Sting on stage.
But for a chance to see him live, in one of London’s most extraordinary theatres, it was an enjoyable evening. Just not quite the triumphant West End premiere this ship deserved. Perhaps it is time to stop trying to revive a ship that has already set sail.
★★★
Reviewed by West End Wilma
Photos by Nienke de Groot
