Maiden Voyage ★★ Southwark Playhouse, Elephant | Jul 19 - Aug 23, 2025

In their programme notes, writers Mindi Dickstein and Carmel Dean explain the genesis of Maiden Voyage: "When we began thinking about what we wanted to write together, we agreed that what was most important to us was to write about women doing hard things, facing challenges, proving themselves, and working together to overcome incredible odds." And that is the main problem with this show: it is the illustration of a thesis, rather than an exploration of the individuals or their stories. One early hint that this narrative might be rather rough sailing is the reliance on the characters to provide a chronology of events, an especially inelegant device to convey the passage of time. The real issue, however, is that the audience is never truly invited to identify with any of the people involved. While we are given some of Tracy Edwards' personal history before she undertook the 1989-1990 Whitbread Round the World Race with an all-female crew, it is presented as a perfunctory and rather uninteresting recounting of facts which are only included in order to advance the main premise. Similarly, when on board Tracy struggles with the first captain of the Maiden's voyage and decides to assume the roles of both captain and navigator herself, the scene unfolds without much emotional depth, leaving us uninvested in either character. In fact, the inclusion of the altercation almost seems to be drama pro forma. What might have been the nuanced relationship of Tracy with her friend, Jo, or with her very multi-faceted mother, Pat, is presented in simplistic terms, and what must have been the complex motivations of King Hussein of Jordan for financing this venture of British women sailing around the world is not explored at all. The focus is on the message, ostensibly the struggle between the women and the sea, although the latter functions more as a natural world metaphor for their confrontation with societal sexism. As a musical Maiden Voyage has a score that is pleasant but not particularly memorable, the highpoint probably being the song "Winning" which is as close as we come to a focus on character. Credit must be given to the show's set and video design team who do a remarkable job of creating a sense of the voyage in a confined and challenging space. However, the choreography of the characters rolling about to simulate the sea's motion is, perhaps, less successful. There is certainly a drama in the people and stories of the Maiden's voyage around the world, but this musical version doesn't quite capture it.

Rated: ★★

Reviewed by J.C.

Photo by Pamela Raith

When, Where, Getting there:

• Jul 19 - Aug 23, 2025
• Mon - Sat: 7 pm, Thu & Sat: 2:30 pm
• Southwark Playhouse, Elephant
• Nearest tube: Elephant & Castle
• https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/maiden-voyage/