I've been intrigued about Sting's foray into musical theatre ever since it's run on Broadway back in 2014/15. When the show docked in at the Wales Millennium Centre this week, I took myself down to see what The Last Ship had to offer.
The story follows Richard Fleeshman's excellent portrayal of Gideon Fletcher, a local lad who leaves his town for the seas and returns 17 years later to pick up where he left off with his childhood sweetheart Meg Dawson. But the main bulk of the piece revolves around Jackie White and his wife Peggy leading their community against the closure of the local ship yard. I found the latter storyline far more captivating and gripping than the former. For me the show was just a bit too long, and I do think that the love story element was guilty of taking up too much time, particularly with some of the less memorable pieces of music.
Joe McGann and Charlie Hardwick both gave outstanding performances and I was blown away by the dynamic relationship held between the pair. It's evident throughout the piece that this is based upon real people, real places and real stories and accompanied by an excellent standard of acting across the board with a very strong ensemble, Hardwick and particularly McGann demonstrate a high level of intelligence with their accurate performances. Other highlights for me included Katie Moore, who was very strong throughout, shone right at the end with her parting words on defiance and team-spirit. Frances McNamee's vocals were just fabulous and brought to life the lull in a score that felt flat at times. Annie Grace was another standout for me - her number before the transition into the second act was so much fun and one of the more memorable moments for me.
I will admit I wasn't the biggest fan of the score, but 'The Last Ship' is an almighty piece of music, and its echoes throughout the show are incredibly powerful. I was also very taken with 'We've Got Now't Else' - a rousing song that captured the community spirit of the whole ensemble perfectly - it must feel epic to be on that stage performing that song with such a talented cast.
The pinnacle of this whole production however, has to be the set. A simple, strong and sold set captures what I can only imagine it feels like to work and live in that setting and era. What makes it so perfect is the spectacle that is the lighting design by Matt Daw. I'm sure I won't be the first, nor the last to comment on this wonderful piece of work by Daw. It complimented the story beautifully and was without a doubt the highlight of the entire production. A poignant scene in the local church features an enormous stained-glass window which is so popular it features on the programme and other advertisements and rightfully so because it's amazing.
I enjoyed going to see The Last Ship, but despite reading that it's had some revision and edits since it's Broadway run a few years back, I still think that it struggles to keep up slightly. It's a wonderful piece of theatre and I'd encourage everyone to see it, just for the incredibly talented cast who power through this epic production.
⭐⭐⭐
The Last Ship runs until 19th May at the WMC.
https://www.wmc.org.uk/Productions/2018-2019/DonaldGordonTheatre/TheLastShip/
The Last Ship is touring around the country until July.
https://www.thelastshipmusical.co.uk
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