What Did She Say

The Last Ship has sailed into The Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto. The theatre will be home to Sting and his musical ode to his hometown until March 24. Thanks to some media tickets, my partner and I were delightfully close to the legend himself. Sting’s stage presence is remarkable; even without being a huge fan, it was incredibly cool to see this multi-Grammy-winner perform before us. Sting is an amazing songwriter, as evidenced by his immense catalogue – part of which is in this show. I’m sure fans will love seeing Sting in this environment.

The Last Ship, however, is not a one-man show. Far from it. This is an ensemble piece with many moving parts. There are two main narratives – a love story between Meg and Gideon; and the story of the last ship, a battle between the owner of the shipbuilding company and its workers. It’s a tale as old as time. It’s one that will resonate with many people, too many. It’s going to tug at the hearts and souls of anyone from a town built on industry, whether it’s mining or ship-building or an automotive plant. It’s a story that’s close to Oshawa’s heart right now. Sting gave a performance for GM workers last week. He said during that appearance:

I can see the worry on their faces, genuine concern about the future. It was very moving for us to see that close up. It’s not a game, this is real. The story we’re telling on the stage every night at the Princess of Wales is this story. It’s a very human story. It’s a very common story.
I hope you feel the resonance in this town. You’ve done the same thing. You have the dignity of your work, the pride of your work, who you are. You are what you do.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2019/02/14/stings-concert-in-oshawa-was-a-grenade-tossed-at-gm.html

Knowing the back-story behind The Last Ship makes it that much more moving. Gordon Sumner left home at 18-years-old, having grown up “within spitting distance” of the shipyard, shrugging off the expectation he would continue with the legacy. We all know what became of Gordon. Of course, he was Sting by the time most of us heard his name. You can feel the emotion in the words spoken by Sting, to what we can only imagine might be a younger version of himself. Forgiving himself. Telling himself it’s all ok.

The show took a bit for it to find its legs, but once it got going, I was engrossed. I cared about the characters and was invested in how these stories were going to wrap up. (It was a little too neat and tidy of an ending for me to be completely satisfied, but I’m a persnickety theatre-goer.) My date for the show and I differed about how we felt about the set. He wasn’t too keen on the projection-style backdrops, but I like the versatility they offer – and the motion that’s difficult to get otherwise. We could change from the pub to the house to the shipyard in a blink. The industrial setting around the various screens gave the set enough depth and texture that the digital aspect wasn’t overpowering.

With the blend of Sting’s songwriting and a story that touches many on a personal level, this is a show that will delight and resonate – fan or not.