Maiden Voyage, Southwark Playhouse review - new musical runs aground

As the nation basks in the reflected glory of The Lionesses' Euro25 victory, it could hardly be more timely for the Southwark Playhouse to launch a new musical that tells the tale of The Maiden. That was the boat, built and sailed by Tracy Edwards and her crew of resourceful, resilient women, in the Whitbread Round The World Yacht Race 1989, the first such crew to finish the gruelling challenge.

It’s hard to credit now, but women, you know, that demographic that do childbirth, were once deemed too fragile for many sports. The first woman allowed to ride the Grand National, Charlotte Brew, only got the gig in 1977 after the passing of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The Women’s Marathon was only introduced into the Olympic Games in 1984. The MCC only admitted women in 1998, but it’s so dangerous in the Lord’s Pavilion that only three percent of the membership, 27 years on, are female. So we meet Tracy and her best friend Jo, facing strong headwinds in task of raising the money for the project but, in a twist you would have to know because you ain’t going to guess it, she brokers her previous time at sea with King Hussein of Jordan into a sponsorship deal, and it’s full steam ahead – as t’were.

It’s not a bad story for a musical with an ever-popular dash of underdog spirit and female emancipation to spice it up, but there are so many structural problems that the cast are metaphorically bailing out water from the start. 

Even for a musical, Mindi Dickstein (on book and lyrics duty) overloads the opening scenes with great slabs of exposition, delivered in sentences that real people just do not speak. There must be a more elegant way of letting us know that Tracy is a feisty woman who lost her father early and that her mother was a ballet dancer and karting racer, but had to move to Wales where her dreams died. And we certainly don’t need telling all that stuff twice!

It’s also a long time before we actually get to sea when Jack Baxter’s video design and a clever, flexible set come into their own. In the meantime a multinational crew is assembled which is good for harmonies, but bad for drama, as there’s no time to learn about them as individuals – they’re just accents really. And there’s example after example of how the crew face men’s opprobrium even for trying – surely a case of preaching to the choir?

Chelsea Halfpenny (pictured above with Naomi Alade) never quite sheds the gloss of a musical theatre star in favour of a seawater stained sailor, but she sings well and catches the steel Tracy has shown through her life. Naomi Alade brings best friend energy to the part of Jo, but it’s a cookie cutter character. Jo, calamitously, breaks her wrist and, having worked for a couple of years on the project, misses the first leg. But, after a glum face and a pep talk from Tracy, she’s back to her sunny self. Surely there was more to explore there?

Shahaf Ifhar has a regal bearing as King Hussein and is careful not to go anywhere near #MeToo territory – this is not that kind of show! As Tracy’s mother, Laura Tyrer sings one of the best songs, “Move Forward” but she’s underused and her part-jealous, part-proud relationship with her daughter is barely touched upon.

Carmel Dean can write catchy tunes and can marshal the power of harmonies in service of emotions, but almost all the songs are sung in the soprano register as director, Tara Overfield Wilkinson, has stayed true to The Maiden’s ethos and used an (almost) all women team. So a powerful number like “Approaching Australia”, heralding survival of the ferocious Southern Ocean, sounds too much like the songs that have come before. Unlike the roiling seas, the score needs more ups and downs.

Though women’s sport has come on enormously in every facet (standards, funding, social impact etc) since the 80s, the battle for true equality is not yet won – if you can bear to look at social media, you’ll see why. So it’s entirely right that The Maiden’s achievement is recognised all these years on. 

I just wish it were a better musical.  

• Maiden Voyage at Southwark Playhouse until 23 August
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