Review: The Last Ship at Leeds Grand Theatre

THE brilliant opening chorus of The Last Ship raised the hairs on the back of my neck and sent a tingle down my spine such was its power and brilliant harmonies. This was the start of what was to be a superb two hours of drama, music and choreography.

The musical 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. It is an epic account of a family, a community and a great act of defiance. The Last Ship features an original score with Sting’s music and lyrics 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.

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.

Lorne Campbell the director has put together a stellar cast with four main principals but also several extremely talented supporting actors. Joe McGann, best known for his role in the TV series The Upper Hand, brings a stoic dignity to his role of Jackie White, the foreman of the shipyard. He is very well supported by Tyneside born Charlie Hardwick as his wife Peggy. Charlie will be well known to the Yorkshire audience as she starred as Val Pollard in Emmerdale for over 12 years. I thought Richard Fleeshman’s singing in his role of Gideon was superb and at times sounded so much like Sting it was an uncanny resemblance. Richard too was a soap star having played the role of Craig Harris in Coronation Street for many years. Another superb vocal and acting performance came from Frances McNamee as Meg, the girl Gideon abandoned seventeen years previously when he left Wallsend to join the Navy. This was a real gutsy performance as was demanded for the character she portrayed.

Kevin Wathen brought empathy as the hard-drinking Davey, disappointed and bitter, while Joe Caffrey, Sean Kearns and Charlie Richmond were also outstanding as Billy Thompson the Trade Union Rep, Mr Newlands the shipyard owner and Adrian Sanderson the shipyard carpenter. Penelope Woodman’s Baroness Tynedale appeared to be a mix of Dolores Umbridge and Maggie Thatcher, whilst Katie Moore also turned in a superb performance as Meg’s daughter Ellen, who has inherited her father’s wanderlust and her mother’s spiky bravado.

As well as the acting and singing, I was also totally blown away by the sets and particularly the screen projections used throughout the performance. 59 Productions’ design is stunning, rendering the shipyard in all its terrible beauty. A skyline dominated by chimney stacks, an angry ocean and shipyard cranes all captured the atmosphere of this North Eastern shipyard superbly.

Whilst the production at Leeds Grand Theatre only ran until last Saturday, it is on again at York Theatre Royal from 25 to 30 June. If you missed it at Leeds, it is well worth travelling the thirty miles there to catch this superb show.

by John Burland