With songs dating from 1963 to 2012, ranging from the familiar to those only die-hard Dylan fans will recognise, and having captivated audiences in London’s West End and on Broadway, this production delivers an outstanding homage to a gifted musician and poet; the beautiful voices of the cast are testament to Dylan’s outstanding portfolio of work.
The story is set in Dylan’s birthplace, Duluth, Minnesota, in 1934 in the cold winter of The Great Depression (seven years before the prodigious songwriter was born), in a run-down lodging house housing an assortment of characters, all with their own problems and different troubles in life.
Nick (Colin Connor) and Elizabeth (Frances McNamee) own the boarding house. He is having an affair with one of the guests and she has early onset dementia. Their son, Gene, (Gregor Milne) is a would-be writer with an alcohol addiction and their adopted black daughter Marianne (Justina Kehinde) is mysteriously pregnant.
Around this central group director McPherson interlaces black and white lovers and would-be suitors, a boxer, a rogue Bible salesman, hangers-on and ne’er-do-wells, plus another troubled family. Life has not been kind to any of them and all have something to regret or to hide; all are given equivalent emotional weight throughout the piece. There is also the evocative feel of a candlelit ghost story.
Frances McNamee plays poor dementia-stricken Elizabeth with veracity and timely comedic interludes, whilst Colin Connor (Nick Laine) unveils boarding house owner Nick as an adulterer who is up to his neck in financial debt, with candour and down-to-earth reality. Chris McHallem holds the piece together as Narrator whilst also playing Dr Walker.
It is basically a play with music; the songs are drawn from Dylan’s back catalogue, not just the early Woody Guthrie-inspired folky protest work, but those with more musical development in them which the cast handle well emotionally. Author McPherson has included songs from every decade of Dylan’s music.
This is a piece laced with melancholy, uselessness and a hint of the supernatural. The songs are interspersed into the action with the cast stepping up to microphones and picking up instruments to perform them alongside an onstage band. The cast are multi-talented, all singing and playing various instruments; interestingly McPherson has used only the instruments which were available during the 1930s in the production (piano, violin, mandolin, guitars, drums and double bass).
The production relies heavily on the vocal talent of the cast, all of whom have skilled singing voices; mention must be made of the singing talents of Nichola MacEvilly (Mrs Neilsen), Frances McNamee (Elizabeth), Frankie Hart (Katherine Draper) and Rebecca Thornhill (Mrs Burke,) all of whom have excellent voices. Justina Kehinde (Marianne) and Joshua C Jackson (Joe Scott) are vocally outstanding; their voices are exceptionally beautiful and blend remarkably well together. The slowed-down duet of ‘I Want You’ performed by Gregor Milne (Gene Laine) and Frankie Hart (ensemble) brought out the poignancy of the song and was delightful.
Throughout the show, the ensemble produced incredible combinations of dance to accompany their backing melodies. Movement Director, Lucy Hind, created a mixture of bee-bop, waltz, and freestyle movement which was key to the era and was never obtrusive.
Rae Smith must be commended for her excellent work on set and costume, the authentic detail of the costumes gives important reality and relevant atmosphere to the production. One set is used throughout, the kitchen of the boarding house, dark and dimly lit, thus achieving the atmosphere of the Depression. It utilises various back-drops with photographs which are at times back-lit so that some of the ensemble appear as dark silhouettes against it. The screens and photographic backdrop are understated but very effective.
Enormous recognition must be given to Simon Hale for his superb musical arrangements and music supervision for the show.
The show ends with a rendition of Dylan’s beautiful ‘Forever Young’ and closes on a poignant image of the family sharing a meal.
'Girl From The North Country' is packed with emotion and deals with issues that are especially pertinent today, with concerns about money, mental health, and looking after one-another when times are hard, whilst McPherson has managed to make Dylan's songs sound heartbreakingly personal.
Dylan fans will love this production, as it reinterprets the familiar in a new way, all approved by the great man himself, whilst fans of musicals, which include incredible, heart-wrenching songs and powerful, emotive lyrics, will adore it too.
'Girl From The North Country' is at The Lowry, Manchester from 19th-24th September 2022.
Reviewer - Anne Pritchard
on - 20.9.22
Reviewer - Anne Pritchard
on - 20.9.22
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