The Last Ship The Musical

Glasshouse Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane

9th April-3rd May 2026

Dr Gemma Regan

Brisbane’s newest chic Glasshouse Theatre opens with a big ticket show, The Last Ship, with A-lister musicians Sting and Shaggy.

Sting is a proud Geordie from the North East of England, like myself, who wrote a musical to honour the memory of his grandfather, who worked in the shipyards, as did mine and many other Geordie men who were mostly employed as shipyard workers or coal miners. When Margaret Thatcher destroyed both industries, the North of England was plunged into depression with millions of men out of work, ravaging families and the whole area.

The Last Ship describes the beginnings of the industry's demise as a testament to his Grandfather and all the shipyard workers who proudly built ships to last at the Swan Hunter, Austin, and Pickersgill shipyards, with enormous cranes like skeletal giraffes filling the horizon (one of which my Grandfather operated).

Sting, at 74 with 17 Grammys, and his success in The Police and as a solo artist, uses music as inspiration for The Last Ship from his 1991 album The Soul Cages, featuring the stirring songs Island of Souls, All This Time and When We Dance.

The Last Ship was produced by American Karl Sydow with Sting  in 2011 and premiered in 2014. The updated story is based on the new book by Barney Norris and Lorne Campbell, using the original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey. Due to the average reviews, this updated version has added scenes and music, with a new character, the Wallsend Ferryman, played by A-lister, two-time Grammy Award winner, reggae star Shaggy.

While most of the main characters have a role, Shaggy’s seems to be to liven up the staleness by singing two songs and loitering in the shadows for most of the performance before leaving each time with a beaming smile. Despite the incongruity of a reggae star appearing in a very white, deprived North-East of England in the 1970’s, his superstar appeal and genuine personality work to freshen up the show, and it was a joy to see him perform live on stage.

Running at nearly three hours, Sting should have cut many of the unnecessary scenes built around a flagging love story between Meg, played with gusto by Lauren Samuels and Declan Bennett (Eastenders, Contagion), who is brilliant as Gideon. Both have effective Geordie accents which are distinctive, but not so broad as to be unintelligible to the Aussie ear. 

Gideon runs away to sea for 17 years, unknowingly leaving the teenage Meg bereft and pregnant. He returns to find Sting as the foreman, Jackie White, sick and dying whilst trying to fight for the workers with Billy Thompson (Joe Caffrey, Captain Marvel and Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason) who is superb as the bolshy Union Rep. Annette McLaughlin (Law and Order, Silent Witness) is a strong and convincing Peggy White, the supportive wife of Jackie, who steals the scenes from Sting with her powerful presence.

For those with a Geordie background, there are many Easter Eggs hidden within the musical, with Sting’s character Jackie White being a famous indoor market in the North East and the ITN local TV branding. Christening the last ship with a bottle of “Dog”, Newcastle Brown Ale is fantastic, and the comment of “all the men running away to Tenerife” was noted, although that was more of an 80’s phenomenon.

Another gem in the Geordie crown was the inclusion of Northumbrian piper and fiddler Kathryn Tickell OBE, who is famous on Geordie shores, and I have seen her play on many occasions. She brought the sounds of the North East to life, encapsulated in Sting’s music.

The talented musicians and chorus featured heavily in the musical, with many buried in the pit of the brand-new, stunning Glasshouse theatre, but some visible in the wings on stage throughout the show, which gave it a concert vibe. Unusually, the libretto is shown on two screens replete with Geordie words such as bairn (child), Haway (come on) and a smattering of mans and pets, although the translations are not there for the Aussie audience.

Brisbane is the only Australian port on The Last Ship’s international run after Paris, Amsterdam and New York, which is a massive boon for the QPAC, placing it as a prime international destination for the Arts in the run-up to Brisbane hosting the Olympics in 2032. 

The set is epic and industrial with the Company 59 Studio digitally projecting the enormous bow of the ship as the backdrop to a set laden with ladders, chains and scaffolding behind the shipyard gates to recreate a seamless scene with the actors and chorus. A large stage is moved up and down on chains for a dramatic opening scene with Sting. There were technical issues on Friday night, leaving Sting stranded for twenty minutes behind closed curtains until the show continued, but it has worked seamlessly since opening night .

The Last Ship,  is a one-off A-lister spectacle in a brand new 1500-seat venue, which has been packed from the first show. Despite being a vanity project of Sting’s and a way to make amends with his local community, due to his guilt of being desperate to get away as a young man, it is an absolute MUST SEE.  This production at the QPAC Glasshouse theatre is THE ONLY OPPORTUNITY IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE to see The Last Ship with two iconic musicians Sting and Shaggy performing live on stage, supported by professional actors and a local Aussie chorus. 

Grab the Golden Tickets from $99 before it closes on the 3rd May