Review: MAIDEN VOYAGE, Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Once reliable Oscar bait, the classic “inspirational” biopic become something of a social media punchline in recent years. They all have the same familiar beats – the humble beginnings, the early setbacks, the internal tensions, and the rising from the ashes – and rarely say anything new or unique to their particular subjects. Maiden Voyage, a new musical charting the first all-female circumnavigation of the globe, is unfortunately not an exception to the rule.

Granted, the story this show chooses to tell – the 1989-90 voyage of the Maiden in the Whitbread Race, captained by Tracy Edwards (played here by Chelsea Halfpenny) and crewed entirely by women – is a cut above standard biopic fare. The stakes facing the crew, both the physical danger and the constant casual misogyny, are genuinely high, and so the inevitable triumphant denouement feels earned.

Composer Carmel Dean and director Tara Overfield Wilson have wholeheartedly embraced the idea of a musical mostly set on the dangerous high seas. Much of the score owes something to the sea shanty tradition – lots of singing in the round here – and lush capital-R Romantic strings conjure an idea of the sea as a powerful beast outside our control (there’s even a song called “Facing the Monster”). In a relatively small black box venue, the set is a very convincing depiction of a real-life sailing ship, with a complex network of adjustable ropes which also allows the choreography to play with levels in visually exciting ways.

They say that sailors feel disoriented once back on land after a long voyage, and the same might be true of this show before the action moves to the race itself in the second half. The crew’s passage across the Southern Ocean is exhilarating physical theatre, the cast swaying and shaking with the motion of the waves. Before this, though, the script feels staid, essentially a catalogue of early organisational meetings which doesn’t allow the camaraderie between the women, such a crucial part of their voyage, to properly breathe.

The supporting characters, who are supposedly key touchstones in understanding Tracy Edwards’ motivations, do not fare much better. Edwards’ initial interactions with her sponsor King Hussein I of Jordan (who, unbelievably, first spoke to her while she was washing dishes on his charter yacht) fail to convincingly explain why the monarch would take such an interest in her, while her relationship with her mother (Laura Tyrer) seems designed only to deliver exposition about Edwards’ childhood and family.

There’s more of a missed opportunity to be found in Maiden Voyage’s approach to feminism. Lyricist Mindi Dickstein (previous credits include the critically underwhelming Little Women musical) doesn’t seem to have much insight into the misogyny of sailing culture in the 1980s beyond simplistic patriarchy-busting rallying calls like “the ocean is for anyone with the guts to face it”. A cartoonish trio of sexist journalists, who miraculously have a change of heart about the Maiden’s crew halfway through the voyage, fall far short of believable.

Halfpenny’s portrayal of Tracy is a pleasing mix of earnest naivety and dogged resourcefulness, who partially undercuts well-trodden cliches of successful women fighting the patriarchy. But it’s troubling that this nuance isn’t extended to other members of the crew, who are always either arguing in vain against Tracy’s decisions or making banal statements of solidarity. This is especially true of Tracy’s perpetually wide-eyed galley cook and Best Friend Jo (Naomi Alade), who spends most of her time onstage as an impossibly wise voice of reason to Tracy.

Did we need a nautical girl power biographical musical? Probably not. There are elements of this musical that could be salvaged in another show about the endlessly interesting literary character that is the sea (and our relationship with it). As it stands, though, it’s best to let the waves take this one.

Maiden Voyage plays at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 23 August