Last Ship sails to Festival Theatre

Jimmy Nail to star in UK premiere tour

The Last Ship, the musical by Sting inspired by his 1991 album The Soul Cages, is to play Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre in its UK premiere tour starring Jimmy Nail.

The musical is to be produced by Newcastle’s Northern Stage where it will open in March 2018 for four weeks before going on a UK-wide tour until July. It will play Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre Tuesday 12 to Saturday 16 June 2018.

Jimmy Nail, Sting and Lorne Campbell. Pic: Mark Savage

The Last Ship is based on Sting’s own childhood experiences. It tells the story of a community amid the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, with the closure of the town’s Swan Hunter shipyard.

Personal, political and passionate, it is an epic account of a family, a community and a great act of defiance. Sting wrote the music lyrics for the show, which features some of his best-loved songs including Island of Souls, All This Time and When We Dance.

Gideon Fletcher, a sailor, returns home from sea to discover the ship-building life he left behind in chaos. The local shipyard, around which Wallsend has always revolved, is closing and no-one knows what will come next – only that a half-built ship towers over the terraces.

With the engine fired and pistons in motion, picket lines are drawn as foreman Jackie (Jimmy Nail) and his wife Peggy fight to hold their community together in the face of the gathering storm.



The production will be directed by Edinburgh-born Lorne Campbell, the artistic director of Northern Stage. He is a former associate director at the Traverse where his direction work included Distracted by Morna Pearson and Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Alan Wilkins, winner of the CATS Best New Play award in 2007.

The set design will by 59 Productions, the EIF associated artists company which is behind the EIF’s big opening spectacles – Bloom, Deep Time and the Harmonium Project.

The Last Ship was first staged on Broadway in 2014 where it ran for 105 performances and garnered Tony Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations. Full casting of the UK tour is to be announced at a later date.

Edinburgh Festival Theatre dates are on sale now to members of it Friends initiative. General sale opens on  Friday 3 November 2017 from 10am.

Listings

The Last Ship
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT.
Tuesday 12– Saturday 16 June 2018
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinees: 2.30pm.
Tickets and Details: www.capitaltheatres.com/thelastship.

Details of the Festival Theatre Friends initiative are here: www.capitaltheatres.com/friends.

The Soul Cages and The Last Ship are available from Amazon. Click images for details:

ENDS

Tags: 59 Productions, Festival Theatre, Jimmy Nail, Lorne Campbell, News, Northern Stage, Production News, Sting, The Last Ship