The Last Ship - Theatre Royal Drury Lane
The other night, I was invited to see Sting's musical, The Last Ship, during its two week run in the West End. Having heard about it from friends who caught the production in Paris, I went in with certain expectations. This was not what I got.
Sting is a name that has earned international recognition over his decades-long musical career, so when I heard he had written a musical, I anticipated something closer in style to Billy Elliot, with its blend of working class grit and accessible, hummable numbers. That assumption proved wrong almost immediately. Within fifteen minutes of the show beginning, we had already been given three ballads with the weight and scale you would expect from a second act finale. It was an early sign that this near three hour production would struggle to sustain its own momentum. The show has trouble finding its footing from the outset, and musically, it only becomes more directionless as it progresses, piling on emotional peaks without giving the audience the quieter moments needed to feel their impact.
Walking into the auditorium, you are met with an imposing steel structure dominating the stage, immediately establishing the shipyard setting. Behind it, a large screen displays the stern of a ship under construction. The effect is genuinely impressive: the video design is convincing enough that, at first glance, I assumed it was a physical set piece rather than a projection.
For context, the story follows a shipyard facing privatisation, leaving hundreds of workers uncertain about their futures and their final commissioned ship unfinished. The workforce bands together to resist the closure, determined to see their last vessel completed and launched. Several parallel storylines run alongside this central conflict, though few of them left much of an impression, and fewer still for reasons that reflected well on the production.
The casting only compounds these issues. It is a decidedly uneven ensemble, with some genuinely great voices among the cast, but others whose talents seem better suited to a different medium altogether, and whose performances struggle to find the right register for musical theatre. Shaggy also features in the production, though beyond the occasional physical appearance onstage, his presence did surprisingly little to advance the plot, leaving his casting feeling more like a curiosity than a meaningful addition to the story.
Scenes tend to blur into one another, which makes individual moments difficult to recall once the show has ended. The direction feels repetitive throughout, and the same can be said of the song-writing, with musical ideas recurring without much variation or development. By the end, I found myself wondering why the show ran close to three hours when a leaner, hour shorter version might have told the same story with far greater impact.
There is real ambition in what The Last Ship sets out to do, and moments where that ambition shows through, particularly in its set and video design. But a strong premise, big budget, star cast and an impressive backdrop are not enough to carry a show whose songs and story struggle to stay afloat for the length of time being asked of its audience. This is a production that never quite finds the right course, and by the time it eventually docks, most audience members will likely be checking their watches rather than reaching for the tissues.
Production Value: 45%
Value For Money: 50%
Personal Enjoyment: 40%
Overall Score: 45% - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3*)
(AD | gifted in exchange for an honest review)
Show Information
Venue: Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London
Playing Until: 3rd October 2026 - before moving on to another venue
Run Time: Approximately 2h50 - with an interval of 20 minutes
Tickets can be purchased from this link.
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