Perhaps this charming real-life story of unlikely success – which saw a group of singing Cornish fisherman find fame – has been recycled one too many times. First there was the hit album (2010). Then came a decent film (2019) and a not so decent sequel (2022). Now we have Amanda Whittington’s stage musical, based on the original screenplay. It’s a solid script with some lovely flickers of humour and cynicism, particularly concerning the tension between the hardy Cornish locals and fair-weather tourists. But it’s a story we’ve heard many times before, arguably in more suitable forms.
The shanty songs work best when they’re barely being performed. London music exec Danny (a nicely nuanced Jason Langley) first spots the fishermen singing on the beach as the gulls caw overhead in a scene which captures the distilled beauty of the sea shanty. Later the group travel to London and sing for a music agent, with their backs turned to the audience. Their faces concealed, the music takes on an extra power and something very pure, warming and timeless rises up through their song.
