Message In A Bottle - Review

Peacock Theatre, London

****

Choreographed by Kate Prince

Based on the songs of Sting

In a display of sensational dancing, Message In A Bottle takes the songs of Sting and The Police fusing them into a performance, under Kate Prince’s choreography, that focusses on love, resilience and above all, a desire for freedom. 

The evening is a display of inclusiveness and freedom of expression in different ways: both physical and emotional with the first act starting through the telling the story of a strong supportive community, where people are friendly and look after each other. As the simple narrative unfolds it becomes heart-wrenching to see the challenges of tougher times – the separation of a married couple and a community experiencing hardship.

Throughout, the performances are sensational. Nafisah Baba in particular is a mesmerisingly strong and talented dancer.  Baba’s moves are animalistic, full of grace and intrigue and it is a delight to watch her dance. To the backing of The Police’s classic number Roxanne she flourished in a dance of spice and passion.

While Baba stood out it has to be said that all of Prince’s talented troupe are fantastic. Their moves are filled with physics, energy and mutual connection, communicating brilliantly the concepts of teamwork, friendship, family, community and love. If there is but one small flaw, it is the space constraint of the stage which seems to restrict the dancers’ movement.

A dance of love between two male dancers is impressively performed to Sting’s Shape Of My Heart, with the audience exploding into applause. One can see the dancers not only holding the line of the dance, but also transferring their feelings to the audience. 

Message In A Bottle is an inspiring show filled with energy, joy, love and expression and a must see for lovers of modern dance.

Runs until 21st March

Photo credit: Helen Maybanks

The Last Ship - Review

Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool


****


Music and lyrics by Sting
Original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey
Direction and book by Lorne Campbell

Joe McGann and Charlie Hardwick

For the most part, Sting’s The Last Ship is a thing of beauty. The Geordie songwriter / pop megastar has penned a well-crafted salute to the shipbuilders of his native Newcastle Upon Tyne and their industry that has long vanished.

Sting’s roots shine proudly throughout the show. The language is frequently and gloriously in the north eastern vernacular while the melodies, be they balladry or the more rousing ensemble numbers,  are anchored firmly in English folk heritage. Think of The Hired Man, fused with Blood Brothers alongside a hint of Auf Weidersehn Pet and you start to get close to the show’s heartbeat. 

It’s hard (nigh, impossible) to write of the plot and remain spoiler-free. Suffice to say, not only is there a solid industrial foundation to the narrative, there is also a cleverly crafted human interest too. Themes of love, ambition along with both a respect for and a challenge to the importance of family and tradition, are well woven into the narrative.

Joe McGann and Charlie Hardwick lead the cast as Jackie and Peggy White, shipyard foreman and nurse respectively and both could not be more perfectly cast. Their singing voices may not be the finest, but McGann has a beautifully powerful presence that’s hewn from riveted granite. As he leads his workers in act one’s stirring Shipyard number, there is a believable wryness to his delivery that defines him, not only as a leader of men, but also as a shipbuilder with a deeply held a pride in his craft. Peggy is made of the same steel as her husband, but with the additional thread of a perceptively drawn woman’s compassion. We see her not only leading, but caring too. 

The story’s romantic theme derives from the school-love that blossomed between Gideon Fletcher and Med Dawson (Richard Fleeshman and Frances McNamee) and who we meet some 17 years later. Both actors are gifted with some of the show’s more heart-rending numbers, though McNamee leads the women in a gloriously tango-infused routine If You Ever See Me Talking To A Sailor.

The portrayal of the industry’s decline is as heartbreaking as it is recognisable. This review was written as the touring production played in Liverpool and there was a resonance to its message that was almost tangible sitting amongst the packed matinee audience in the Playhouse Theatre. Merseyside too has seen its docks and shipyards decimated.

But Sting and Lorne Campbell have pulled their punches with the villain of this piece. Mr Newlands (played by Sean Kearns) is the shipyard owner who, as his business crumbles, resorts to having to call in the police to clear the picketing workers, defiantly attempting to hold on to their livelihoods. He’s clearly the bad guy here, but the real "bad guy" was a far more complex machine of global and local politics and policies that crushed the shipyards along with many other of Britain’s heavy industries. Similarly, in a litany of current “issues” recited before the final bow, its hard to reconcile a reference to gun control in the USA, however fashionable that debate may currently be, with Newcastle shipbuilders stripped of their industrial pride and dignity. 

Creatively, the show is cutting-edge in its conception. 59 Productions’ set design makes for an ingenious use of simple girders and clever projections to create illusions that switch seamlessly from present day to backdrop to spiritualised suggestiveness. Lucy Hind has crafted clever and authentic dance work, while in the pit Richard John’s six-piece band makes Sting’s songs soar.

Whether the show will carry its charm into the metropolitan bubble of the M25 is hard to discern, with today's bloated Londoners being a world away from the harsh industrial axe that fell upon the North. Until then, the tour plays until July and it is well worth catching. 

The show tours until 7th July. Venues and dates can be found here.

Ray Shell - Back To Black

The Pheasantry, London

*****

Looking younger than his years Ray Shell skates through the decades of a remarkable career on stage in his cabaret Back To Black, in residence at Chelsea's Pheasantry for this week only. Few other performers define the crossover between soul and musical theatre as does this man and like fine molasses, the resonance of his gloriously weighted tone fills the intimate basement venue. When he sings Friends from Sweeney Todd you only wish that the show could be re-staged with Shell as the barber, it is the most gorgeous sound.

That his set list includes nods to Hair as well as to Kate Bush (no intended connection with that link but 70s savvy folk will see what I did there) is a mark of the man. When Shell sings What A Piece Of Work Is Man from Hair, (itself one of the few Shakespeare soliloquies to have made it into a rock musical), his take on the song, as with so many of his numbers, is exquisite. In recent years Shell has featured in The Lion King and The Bodyguard, neither of which are referenced in the show, but it was his creation of the steam engine Rusty in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express that sealed his reputation on this side of the pond. Throughout Shell’s patter is warm and informative, frequent references to Starlight Express (he reveals that a skating double was used for Rusty's races around the theatre, while he stayed firmly on the level backstage) lead into his closing number of the night, the show's title song that sees his magnificent tenor reach extend into a fine falsetto. For those who recall the opening of that crazy dangerous show at the Apollo Victoria, the moment is a spine-tingling trip back in time some 30 years!

Other highlights are an a-capella take on the Gospel classic (and Parade inclusion) There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood, whilst his cover of The King Of Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger, reminds us that the man's craft is timeless. Sting made the songs famous and Shell (who toured with The Police as a backing singer) re-interprets them with panache. Guest slots from Chardel Rhodean and Anthony Barclay provide a modest contrast as Shell joins his three backing singers in their support, but it is “Soul Man” Shell who defines the night.

Paul Jenkins directs a slick three piece musical accompaniment to the night and toes tap throughout the room as Shell, sporting Jonathan Pryce’s Engineer shirt from Miss Saigon, encores with a beautifully toned cover of Amy Winehouse’s title song for his show. A newcomer to London’s cabaret scene, (Shell confessed that this was the first time he had performed Starlight Express off roller skates) the star quality of his set demands that he returns soon. Barely scratching the vast repertoire of his career, there is simply so much more we want to hear from him. Back To Black is a rare chance to hear an exceptional voice, not to be missed.

Runs until 22nd February