Photo Flash: Sting's THE LAST SHIP Sails Home to Newcastle - First Look at Richard Fleeshman and More!

The UK premiere of The Last Ship - the acclaimed musical by the internationally renowned musician Sting - just opened at Northern Stage in Newcastle. The production has a TONY-nominated original score and lyrics composed by Sting. It will play a 4-week season in Newcastle before embarking on a major UK & Ireland Tour. Check out a first look at the cast in action below!

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

The cast includes Joe McGann (Jackie White), Charlie Hardwick (Peggy White), Richard Fleeshman (Gideon Fletcher) and Frances McNamee (Meg Dawson).

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.

Photo Credit: Pamela Raith