Principal casting has been announced for the UK premiere of The Last Ship – the acclaimed musical by the internationally renowned musician Sting – which is to premiere in the UK when it opens at Northern Stage in Newcastle on 12 March 2018.
The production has a TONY-nominated original score and lyrics composed by Sting. It will play a 4-week season in Newcastle before embarking on a major UK & Ireland Tour.
The show is directed by Lorne Campbell, the artistic director of Northern Stage and has set design by the Tony Award-winning 59 Productions – team behind the video design for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The casting of Joe McGann (Jackie White), Charlie Hardwick (Peggy White), Richard Fleeshman (Gideon Fletcher) and Frances McNamee (Meg Dawson) has today been announced.
The Last Ship, which was initially inspired by Sting’s 1991 album The Soul Cages and his own childhood experiences, tells the story of a community amid the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Tyne and Wear, with the closure of the Swan Hunter shipyard.
When a sailor named Gideon Fletcher returns home after seventeen years at sea, tensions between past and future flare in both his family and his town. The local shipyard, around which the community has always revolved, is closing and no-one knows what will come next, only that a half-built ship towers over the terraces. With the engine fired and pistons in motion, picket lines are drawn as foreman Jackie White and his wife Peggy fight to hold their community together in the face of the gathering storm.
This personal, political and passionate new musical from multiple Grammy Award winner Sting, is an epic account of a family, a community and a great act of defiance. The Last Ship features an original score with music and lyrics by Sting as well as a few of his best-loved songs; Island of Souls, All This Time and When We Dance. It is the proud story of when the last ship sails.
2018 TOUR DATES
Monday 12 March – Saturday 7 April
NORTHERN STAGE
Monday 9 – Saturday 14 April
LIVERPOOL PLAYHOUSE
Monday 16 – Saturday 21 April
THE NEW ALEXANDRA, BIRMINGHAM
Tuesday 24 – Saturday 28 April
ROYAL & DERNGATE, NORTHAMPTON
Monday 30 April – Saturday 5 May
LEEDS GRAND THEATRE
Monday 7 – Saturday 12 May
NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE
Monday 14 – Saturday 19 May
WALES MILLENIUM CENTRE, CARDIFF
Monday 4 – Saturday 9 June
BORD GAIS ENERGY THEATRE, DUBLIN
Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 June
FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH
Monday 18 – Saturday 23 June
THEATRE ROYAL GLASGOW
Monday 25 – Saturday 30 June
YORK THEATRE ROYAL
Tuesday 3 – Saturday 7 July
THE LOWRY, SALFORD
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