The Last Ship has plenty of effort and a couple of fun moments, but bad pacing and too many bloated songs keep it stuck in port.
Sting’s musical The Last Ship arrives at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane with big ambitions, trying to tell a story of industrial decline, community spirit, and past romance. But despite a few great vocal moments and a large-scale set, the show repeatedly stalls under the weight of its own soundtrack and a clunky book.
The highlight of the night comes from Frances McNamee, who turns “If You Ever See Me Talking To A Sailor” into an absolute standout. She sings it brilliantly and brings some much-needed fun to the stage. That said, its tango style feels completely out of place against the rest of the music, much like another confusing number best described as a funeral polka. Both are enjoyable enough in isolation, but they end up feeling like weird detours from a generally uninspiring score. Sting is, of course, a multi-Grammy winner and an undeniably skilled songwriter, but the sheer volume of uneventful numbers drags the whole evening down.
The main issue throughout is simply that there are too many songs, they go on for far too long, and they are staged far too statically. Almost every minor character is handed an extended verse or an entire song, dragging out the runtime while bringing all story momentum to a dead stop. Just as the plot begins to pick up speed, everything freezes so someone can sing an elongated track that barely connects to the surrounding action. Given Sting’s star status, it was likely difficult for any co-creative to suggest cutting his work, but this score is in desperate need of an editor. While some songs might work well on their own, in the context of this show they are weakened, and they weaken the rest of the production as a consequence.
Because the music constantly interrupts the story, the characters end up surprisingly flat. The central love story suffers the most: the two leads barely interact, making it impossible to see why they belong together or why we should care. Trimming the song list might have freed up time to develop these figures, just as cutting a few minor roles could have let the principal cast shine. In its current iteration, no character is served well. Given the show’s long history and multiple book rewrites, it is perplexing that such glaring structural issues remain unaddressed.
Visually, there is potential. An imposing ship projected onto a giant screen sets the mood, and the multi-level set pieces offer good scope for movement. However, on Drury Lane’s massive stage, most of the action stays crammed into a small central box, with only occasional trips toward the front. The hard-working ensemble brings plenty of noise and enthusiasm, but they aren’t given much to do with the choreography being disappointingly basic. There is real scale here, but that ambition clearly didn’t extend to the choreography or direction.
The Last Ship is playing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane 22nd September – 3rd October.