Sting is a superstar but seems content to be just part of the collective in his stage musical, The Last Ship. This seems only fair in a show that is about community, the one that raised him.
Born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, this English musician and actor was frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for rock band The Police from 1977 until their break-up in 1986.
Sting, as he became known, was brought up in a working-class environment in Wallsend, Northumberland, a shipbuilding district in Northern England. This musical, which came to QPAC’s new Glasshouse Theatre from Paris and goes on from here to New York, is a tribute to this shipbuilding community he grew up in.
It’s not your regular kind of musical. For a start, this is an authentic and new story for most of us, not a recycled one as so many are. That means we don’t know what’s going to happen. That is novel.
The acclaimed musical was first developed by the global icon in 2011 and initially inspired by his 1991 album, The Soul Cages. This renewed version of the production includes new scenes and music, specially adapted for the 2026 tour.
Sting’s music – from gritty folk and rousing choruses to intimate ballads – forms the heart of the show. It’s great to have surtitles, too, so we can appreciate the poetry of the lyrics and not get too blindsided by the excellent Georgie accents of the cast.
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Also, it is infused with folk music and other traditional forms. When it does go a bit Broadway, it grates a little. But, hey, that’s just me.
It’s an amazing, original show and a huge production. It looks spectacular, in a shipyard kind of way. When the curtain went up, I felt like I was about to watch an episode of Megastructures. I happen to love that, so I was happy with the industrial landscape and that towering ship that dominates the stage like some kind of giant latent whale.
The North of England has given us many inspiring stories including Billy Elliot, Brassed Off and Calendar Girls (oh, behave), among others. I love driving in England, heading out of London and seeing signs saying, The North. It’s real in the north.
This show, set in the 1980s, is in the same ballpark as Come From Away, another inspiring story about community that also has people playing fiddles and wearing daggy clothing. No sequins! And, God love ’em, there is not a princess or a witch in sight.
Sting commands the stage but doesn’t dominate it. He has a diffident, laconic persona as Jackie White, the foreman battling ill health due to the rigours of his working life. His wife Peggy White is played by Annette McLaughlin who is tough, warm and wonderful. Sting, 74, may be a rock star, but McLaughlin is a rock.
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Gideon (Declan Bennett, who has a beautiful voice) is the sailor who is home from the sea 17 years late. He left after the death of his father. His former girlfriend Meg (Lauren Samuels) isn’t sure if she is happy to see him or not. There is a love story here that’s part of the rich tapestry about the struggles to keep a shipyard going – and deliver one final ship – before the conservative government can shut it down (Boo! Hiss!), which would put everyone out of work and devastate the town.
The ghostly figure of The Wallsend Ferryman, described as a “loveable angel of death”, is played by Orville Richard Burrell … better known as Shaggy, a reggae icon. His presence adds flair to the production. There is even an occasional reggae riddim when he turns up. And, at one point in the show, he appeared ready to cut loose with Boombastic. He couldn’t though really, more is the pity. Love Shaggy. Yeah Mon.
Let me just say the whole cast is great and the singing is terrific. I love the dramatic aspects. The play within the musical (the script or “book”) is new and was written by Barney Norris. It is a very eloquent and at times literary piece. Poetry is quoted often, Homer is invoked and there is a bit of classic Dylan Thomas at an appropriate moment. “Do not go gentle …” you know the one.
It has a kind of Les Misérables scale and feel, at times, in a dowdy North of England shipyard fashion.
It’s also a tad operatic with the appropriate triumph and tragedy. I don’t want to include any spoiler alerts because you will experience it for yourself.
Sting’s songs are poetic, sad, even jaunty at times (a bit sea shantie-ish) and altogether perfect for telling this story. There are musicians on stage and a small orchestra in the pit under the music direction of Richard John.
In the program Sting describes The Last Ship as a story about community but “also a tender love story of exile, return and emotional debts woven between the machinations of government policies. Betrayal, solidarity and defiance”.
“These songs are my own personal debt to the community that raised me, the community that gave me an identity, a work ethic and a sense of social justice that has sustained me through a long career in a world where it is so easy to lose one’s bearings.”
Amazing that we are seeing a new iteration of this show after Paris and before New York. London-based American producer Karl Sydow was in Brisbane for opening night on Saturday and seemed pleased to be here. Sting and Shaggy looked happy, too. Even happier when the audience got to their feet for a well-deserved standing ovation. The Last Ship is exclusive to Brisbane, so make the most of it people!
The Last Ship plays the Glasshouse Theatre, QPAC, until May 3.
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