“Shantify is fun because of its infectious energy.”
Shantify takes a gloriously ridiculous premise, commits to it with absolute confidence, and sails off into the sunset singing sea-shanty versions of songs you never knew needed the treatment.
Following hugely successful runs at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 and 2025, where the show built a devoted following through word of mouth and repeat audiences, this nautical musical adventure arrives in London with all the confidence of a crew that knows exactly what it’s doing. The concept is wonderfully simple: take musical theatre favourites, pop hits and rock classics, turn them into sea shanties, then wrap the whole thing in a delightfully daft maritime adventure.
Created by Jo Parsons and Emily Wood, with musical arrangements by Harry Style and Ashley Jacobs, Shantify could easily have been a novelty sketch stretched beyond its limits. Instead, it becomes a genuinely entertaining evening thanks to the talent, commitment and sheer enthusiasm of everyone involved.
What immediately stands out is how much fun the cast are having. More importantly, they are absolutely determined that the audience has just as much fun as they do. Joe Bishop, Cal T King, Jack Whittle, Alfie French, Michael Riseley and Ollie Wray work beautifully as an ensemble. Nobody seems interested in stealing the spotlight. Instead, they throw themselves wholeheartedly into every song, joke and piece of audience interaction, creating the feeling of a well-oiled crew navigating increasingly ridiculous waters together.
The harmonies are terrific throughout. Whether they are tackling musical theatre standards, pop favourites or unexpected audience suggestions, the arrangements are consistently inventive and often surprisingly impressive. The cast somehow manage to make almost anything sound as though it has spent the last century being sung aboard a ship somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic.
Part of the show’s appeal is its complete lack of self-consciousness. The performers embrace every absurd choreographic flourish that comes their way. Under Chris Hall’s choreography, they commit fully to exaggerated dance routines, over-the-top character work and moments of physical comedy that would fall flat without absolute conviction. The joke is never that they are embarrassed to be doing it. The joke is that they commit so completely that the audience has no choice but to come along for the ride.
That commitment creates an infectious atmosphere inside the theatre. At the performance I attended, a family sitting directly behind me spent the evening laughing loudly and enthusiastically, particularly during the more unexpected musical transformations and audience participation moments. They were far from alone. The room felt less like a traditional theatre audience and more like a crowd gathered around a particularly entertaining group of musicians at sea.
Under Jo Parsons’ direction, the pace rarely slackens. Even when the show pauses for a little storytelling or audience interaction, the momentum never disappears. There is always another joke around the corner, another musical surprise on the horizon or another opportunity for the cast to demonstrate just how inventive the arrangements can be.
The narrative connecting the songs is admittedly little more than a rope tying the evening together, but that is hardly the point. Nobody is boarding Shantify expecting a complex dramatic voyage. They’re coming to hear beloved songs transformed into sea shanties by six performers who make it incredibly fun and silly.
Shantify knows precisely what it is: funny, musical, a little bit ridiculous and completely unapologetic about all of it. In an industry often preoccupied with importance and seriousness, there is something genuinely refreshing about a show whose primary ambition is simply to send audiences home smiling. Judging by the laughter echoing around the auditorium, that mission is being accomplished night after night.
This show runs at Underbelly Boulevard Soho until the 14th June. Tickets here.