{"id":610201,"date":"2026-09-24T10:52:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/610201\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:52:24","slug":"stings-musical-has-a-crushing-sense-of-its-own-importance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/610201\/","title":{"rendered":"Sting\u2019s musical has a crushing sense of its own importance"},"content":{"rendered":"

If politicians had expended half as much effort trying to save our manufacturing base as Sting<\/a> has in reworking The Last Ship, his ambitious 1980s-set musical lamenting the decline of the shipyards in his native Tyneside, perhaps we would still have a robust shipbuilding industry. After multiple iterations, including a short run on Broadway in 2014, his passion project, into which he has poured his heart, soul and dosh, has been refitted with a few new songs and a fresh book. As it briefly docks at Theatre Royal<\/a> Drury Lane, with Sting himself in a lead role, it’s worth saluting the venture (and applauding its decent tunes), but it lacks a sufficient feel-good factor and goes overboard in its scale.<\/p>\n

The 74-year-old star, born Gordon Sumner, has recalled growing up on a street in Wallsend under the shadow of the shipyards \u2013 and the actors here are dwarfed by the giant bow of a vessel, projected onto a customised screen, the effect of which is both awesome and oppressive. Visually, this is no sentimental portrait; apart from a swaying chorus-line of strikers, dance isn’t on the agenda. The evening, directed by Leo Warner, nails its gritty colours to the mast early on: simulated sparks fly as welders tend to the ship on scaffolding, amid a clanking din.<\/p>\n

This life can crush and kill, but a whole world depends on it. When ruthless (boo-hiss Tory) politicians look to close down the shipyard as uneconomic, the fightback begins. Hope builds, in the form of the ship that meets our constant gaze: the “Utopia”.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The actors are dwarfed by the projected image of a ship, which is both awesome and oppressive in scale – Nienke de Groot<\/p>\n

Playwright Barney Norris, drafted in to give the book another look, has stated that he felt it best to keep “out of the way of the music”. But I think he should have fought harder to trim the 25 or so numbers; although many are rousing, they lack the irresistibility of Sting’s best pop, or musical theatre at its epic finest.<\/p>\n

We need to fix our sympathies on individual protagonists but though Declan Bennett’s haunted Gideon, returning home after 17 years, and Frances McNamee’s hard-bitten publican Meg, the girl he abandoned (and who had his child), warble about their emotional conflicts in a spirited fashion, as characters they feel rather generic.<\/p>\n

\"Reclaiming<\/p>\n

Reclaiming his Geordie accent, Sting sings half a dozen songs with a noble, steadfast air – Nienke de Groot<\/p>\n

Reclaiming his Geordie accent and singing half a dozen numbers with a noble, steadfast air, a boiler-suited Sting ushers in welcome pathos as the dying foreman Jackie (joined by the reggae star Shaggy, at the opening performances, as a supernatural, somewhat superfluous “Ferryman”). Enlivening the scene, too, there’s a literary-minded worker and a feisty union rep.<\/p>\n

Yet, this ensemble endeavour never escapes the shadow of its creator. Tyneside has one of our richest working-class songbooks, but that’s left untouched; are these folk singing from deep within or simply because they’re in a Sting musical? His presence, and his fans, will keep The Last Ship afloat in this far from blue-collar venue. But if Sting’s ambition is to fashion a show that will last, it’s a case of: back to the drawing-board.<\/p>\n

Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London WC2 (thelastship-musical.com<\/a>), until October 3<\/p>\n

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If politicians had expended half as much effort trying to save our manufacturing base as Sting has in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,300710,157,111,139,69,57437,300711],"class_list":["post-610201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-jackie-morrison","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sting","tag-sting-musical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}