Maiden Voyage – Review

Maiden Voyage: Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London.

25th July 2025

★★★

Maiden Voyage is a brank new musical following the true story of a high-school dropout galley cook, Tracy Edwards, who plans to lead the first all-female sailing crew in an ocean race around the world. This is the debut for this new musical written by Mindi Dickstein with music by Carmel Dean and aims to take the audience on a thrilling and unforgettable journey across oceans and horizons on the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race of 1989-90.

It is always great to see new writing on stage and this new production has great promise. There have been lots of shows recently about powerful female figures and this one fits the bill completely. The set by Laura Burman is simple yet effective, with the large sails at the back being used for digital projection which really helps add drama and tension, particularly during the rough seas. The use of photos of the newspaper reports about the race is a nice added touch. With the actors constantly swaying and bobbing from side to side it is easy to believe they are really aboard the ship itself.

Chelsea Halfpenny leads this production well, her acting is convincing although at times her vocals do not match the power of some of the other actors on stage. Naomi Alade plays Jo with conviction helping to guide Tracy through this quest. Each of the cast are strong and bring something unique to the crew, but it is when they come together that the show really excels. Carmel Dean’s group songs really stand out and the multi-layered harmonies created are lovely. Whilst there are not on any particularly memorable catchy tunes or show stopping numbers, it is a pleasant score with some gorgeous harmony lines.

At just under an hour and a half straight through this is an easy to watch new musical. Whilst it won’t set the stage alight, it is an enjoyable evening out and a chance to learn about this incredible feat. For many people in the audience, this will be the first that they have heard of Tracy Edwards and her tireless crew which is a real shame. It is great that shows like this are able to tell their stories to a whole new audience. With an empowering story, lovely harmonies and passionate acting this is a great show to catch this summer. 

Maiden Voyage is playing until the 23rd August 2025. For more information and tickets click here.

Photo credit: Pamela Raith