Review: Shantify, Underbelly Boulevard Soho

(Photo Credit: Danny With A Camera- taken during the run at The Ambassadors Theatre)

Six lads, a coastal town and the open sea. The local pub has invited their band ‘The Barnacle Buoys’ to perform a gig and they’ve got lots of preparation to do, transforming well-known songs into sea shanties, alongside the day-to-day. 

This musical originally started out as an online choir back in twenty twenty one, with a group of West End singers turning beloved musical theatre favourites into swash-buckling sea shanties. The choir made particularly huge waves when their version of ‘nine-to-five’ went viral, leading to the development of the stage production. It made its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in twenty twenty four to such great success that it returned the following year, before a run at The Ambassadors Theatre in London. This year, it has been to the Minack Theatre and is currently being performed at Underbelly Boulevard Soho ahead of its grand return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 

(Photo Credit: Danny With A Camera- taken during the run at The Ambassadors Theatre)

I want to start off by saying that I found out about this show through my best friend, who really enjoyed it when he saw it and recommended it to me. So when the opportunity to review the show comes up, I leap on it. I am decidedly not disappointed. 

The second I enter the stage space, a tsunami of nostalgia hits. The pre-show ambient sounds of the tide and sea birds combine with the surprisingly sparse set, which consists of wooden benches and small crates, reminding me of a port where a piece of my musical theatre loving heart is still moored up. Taking me back to the special places of freedom and found family scattered along the Sussex coast. 

This musical is one that thrives in self-awareness. It knows that the plot is simple, but highly effective, and that the underlying themes of camaraderie, creativity and change, still come through. The main point of the show seems to be to bask in a group of friends escaping from the daily grind by singing sea shanty covers. We are metaphorically invited onto a dinghy for a cruise and the sight is beautiful. 

The audience participation element was miles better when it erred more on the side of audience collaboration. There is a particularly stand-out moment which blew wind in my sails was the point where they ask audience members to call out an artist for them to shantify the songs of. On. The. Spot. Who knew Beyoncé’s songs work so well in this musical style?

(Photo Credit: Danny With A Camera- taken during the run at The Ambassadors Theatre)

Given the inherent nature of this musical as being rooted in the collective, it would feel wrong to shine a lighthouse on any one performer, especially when the power of this musical is in voices raising each other up. Instead I will say that the crew of this ship are all exceptionally talented singers, who manage to navigate all waters with charm.

Pure joy and warm delight in a washed-up bottle. 

**** Four Stars. 

Age Rating: Twelve plus.

Content notes: Strobe, flashing lights/coloured flashing lights, loud noise/effect of thunder and audience participation.

For more information and tickets…

For the run at Underbelly Boulevard Soho: https://underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/shantify/

For the run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: 

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/shantify