THE LAST SHIP Sets Sail On Tour

The UK & Ireland tour of Sting's The Last Ship has launched in Liverpool this week - following a sell-out, critically-acclaimed 4-week run at Newcastle's Northern Stage.

The production, which has a Tony-nominated original score and lyrics composed by Sting, is touring until July and plays Birmingham, Northampton, Leeds, Nottingham, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, York and Salford.

The cast includes Richard Fleeshman, Charlie Hardwick, Joe McGann and Frances McNamee who all feature in the trailer released today - which also showcases the 'superlative' design and 'stunning' projections from 59 Productions - which on Sunday night won the Best Design Olivier Award (alongside Bob Crowley) - for recent West End hit An American in Paris.

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.

When a sailor named Gideon Fletcher returns home after seventeen years at sea, tensions between past and future flare in both his family and his town. The local shipyard, around which the community 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 White and his wife Peggy fight to hold their community together in the face of the gathering storm.

This personal, political and passionate new musical from multiple Grammy Award winner Sting, is an epic account of a family, a community and a great act of defiance. The Last Ship 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. It is the proud story of when the last ship sails.

The cast includes Joe McGann (Jackie White), Charlie Hardwick (Peggy White), Richard Fleeshman (Gideon Fletcher) and Frances McNamee (Meg Dawson) and is competed by Michael Blair (Yard Worker), Joe Caffrey (Billy Thompson), Matt Corner (Young Gideon & Yard Worker), Susan Fay (On Stage Swing) Marvin Ford (Ferryman & Yard Worker), Orla Gormley (Cathleen & Yard Worker), Annie Grace (Mrs Dees), Sean Kearns (Freddy Newland & Old Joe), Katie Moore (Ellen Dawson), Charlie Richmond (Adrian Sanderson), Parisa Shahmir (Young Meg), Kevin Wathen (Davey Harrison), James William-Pattison (Yard Worker/On Stage Swing) and Penelope Woodman (Baroness Tynedale).

The show is directed by Lorne Campbell, the artistic director of Northern Stage and has set design by the Tony and Olivier Award-winning 59 Productions - team behind the video design for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The Last Ship has a new book by Lorne Campbell, original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey, orchestrations by Rob Mathes, musical direction by Richard John, costume design by Molly Einchcomb, movement direction by Lucy Hind, lighting design by Matt Daw and sound design by Seb Frost. Other members of the creative team are dramaturg Selma Dimitrijevic, associate director Jake Smith, casting director Jenkins McShane Casting and associate musical director Sam Sommerfeld.

The Last Ship is produced by Northern Stage in association with Karl Sydow and Kathryn Schenker.

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