Caroline: A New Musical

Photos by Will Green Photography

Review by Catherine Larner.

Moored off the east coast at Harwich, in 1964, the pirate radio station Caroline revolutionised the British broadcasting landscape, playing rock, pop and soul music round the clock. Its energy and exuberance, independence and innovation, youthfulness and creativity, has been vividly and beautifully captured in this production from the East Anglian Touring Consortium. The new musical ‘Caroline’ presents the spirit of life and vitality of a period, and our cultural heritage, perfectly.

The stage at the New Wolsey was used to the full, transformed into the deck of the radio ship, with its rusty iron sides and the vast sky and sea beyond the balustrade. With creative scene changes, great costumes and outstanding musical performances throughout, there was humour as well as a little jeopardy and poignancy, all within a fast-paced storyline.

This was a heartwarming, consuming, joy-filled production.

The story of the radio station, as imagined by writer Vicky Stone, is told through the life of Caroline, a young woman working in a local greengrocers. She’s supporting her boyfriend as he follows his dream, getting a job as a DJ on a radio ship three miles out at sea.

At first they enjoy the glamour and excitement of this opportunity but their forced separation as he works round the clock, far from home, and then the threat of closure to the radio station itself, put a strain on their relationship. Will their love be strong enough to withstand the pressure? Will all that has been achieved by the radio station come to nothing?

Caroline (Claire Lee Shenfield) and Robbie (Jake Halsey-Jones) make a lovely couple and all the cast are full of energy and conviction, each playing numerous parts and faultlessly stepping into dance routines, while strumming guitars, pounding keyboards and drums, or singing choruses in between taking a breath from playing trumpets, trombones or saxophones. They were all incredible, with strong voices and great characterisation.

The songs were all familiar sounds from the period, and brought smiles from the audience as we heard the opening bars of ‘Twist and Shout’, ‘Wouldn’t it Be Nice’, ‘Hippy, Hippy Shake’, ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ – more than a dozen tracks.

Not a moment was wasted. The pace of the drama was perfect. Scene changes were swift and creatively handled. The stage was transformed into a broadcasting booth, shop, park bench, restaurant, Houses of Parliament and much more.

There’s nothing to fault in this production, only the opening scene rattling through challenges to the music scene in recent times with MP3 players, Spotify and more seemed a little out of place. As soon as we were taken to 1964, we were immersed in the period, with no distractions for just over two hours (plus an interval).

Every element was delivered to an incredibly high standard and it resulted in complete joy for the audience who responded with an immediate standing ovation at the conclusion of the show. Whether they were responding to a fond memory or seeing another perspective to our musical heritage, every age group represented here was full of appreciation.

Fantastic. A real delight.

Review by Clare Phillips.

It’s the swinging sixties and a music revolution – not to mention a radio revolution – is just around the corner. The multi-talented cast of ‘Caroline: A New Musical’ bring the revolution to life through their skills as actors, musicians, dancers and singers – very often all at once.

The cast accompanying the performance on a variety of musical instruments is something the New Wolsey has become known for. As someone who has no musical talent whatsoever, I’m always in awe of how the company not only remember their lines, but also play instruments (often more than one per cast member) without appearing to look at a sheet of music.

And music is very much to the fore of this production. It tells the story of Caroline, who dreams of something more than stacking shelves at a Clacton greengrocers. Her days are mundane but her nights come alive with her best friend Mary and music-mad boyfriend, Robbie.

As the music revolution arrives and Robbie is taken on by pirate radio station Radio Caroline, blasting pop, soul and rock and roll from a ship off the Essex coast, suddenly everything changes.

The show is fast-paced and fun.

There’s a delightful comedy between the Postmaster General (Gareth Cooper), who is hell-bent on closing the pirate stations down, and his private secretary, Nigel (Jerome Lincoln.) Claire Lee Shenfield is a strong leading lady as Caroline, but Eliose Richardson is fabulous in support as Mary. Jake Halsey-Jones gives his all as Robbie.

My visit was on the opening night and there were some not quite word-perfect moments, but that will no doubt change as the run continues. It’s a long show – two and a half hour’s running time (including the interval), with Act One lasting an hour and 20 minutes. For me that was too long. It didn’t help that the packed theatre was warm and stuffy, and feeling restless from about ten minutes before the interval – in this post covid era – I could not get to the front doors fast enough during the break to take in some fresh air.

Although I wasn’t around when the pirate ships were driving the radio revolution that brought us Radios 1 and 2 (as well as 3 and 4), it’s a subject that’s always interested me, and writer Vikki Stone has produced a great piece of social history.

I can’t help but wonder what some of those original pirate broadcasters such as Kenny Everett, Simon Dee and Johnnie Walker would have made of this musical - I’m pretty sure they’d have left the theatre with smiles on their faces.

Caroline: A New Musical is at New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich until 2 May 2026.

FOR SHOW DETAILS AND BOOKING LINK, CLICK HERE

Also showing at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds on 16-20 June 2026. Click HERE for details.