The Last Ship

Royal and Derngate, Northampton, from April 24-29

The UK premiere of The Last Ship, with a Tonynominated original score and lyrics by Sting, comes to Northampton as part of a major UK and Ireland tour.

The Last Ship, which was initially inspired by Sting’s 1991 album The Soul Cages and his own childhood experiences, tells the story of a community amid the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Tyne and Wear, with the closure of the Swan Hunter shipyard. This personal, political and passionate new musical is an epic account of a family, a community and a great act of defiance. It features an original score with music and lyrics by Sting as well as a few of his best-loved songs, Island of Souls, All This Time and When We Dance. When a sailor named Gideon Fletcher returns home from sea, he discovers the shipbuilding life he left behind in chaos. The local shipyard is closing and noone knows what will come next. With the engine fired and pistons in motion, picket lines are drawn as foreman Jackie White and his wife Peggy fight to hold their community together in the face of the gathering storm.

Playing the part of Jackie White, Joe McGann is perhaps best known as Charlie Burrows in the comedy series The Upper Hand, with stage roles including Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof and Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls. Emmerdale star Charlie Hardwick takes the role of Peggy White. Playing Gideon Fletcher, Richard Fleeshman’s stage roles include Sam Wheat in Ghost the Musical (West End and Broadway). Tickets – priced from £12 to £50 – can be booked by calling Box Office on 01604 624811 or online at www.royalandderngate. co.uk.