30 January – 4 February
Girl From The North Country is a highly original and profoundly moving show, with strong performances from its entire cast. Though it features twenty songs from Bob Dylan’s extensive back catalogue, this is no ordinary jukebox musical. Writer and director Conor McPherson has found a strikingly unconventional way to tell his tale of a disparate group of thirteen characters struggling to find hope of a better life during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The setting is a shoddy guesthouse in Dylan’s hometown, Duluth, Minnesota. Events pivot around Nick (Colin Connor), who runs the place, and his wife Elizabeth (Frances McNamee), who has succumbed to some kind of dementia. They have an unemployed son, Gene (Gregor Milne), who drinks to excess, and an adopted black daughter Marianne (Justina Kehinde), who is being wooed by widower Mr Perry (Teddy Kempner) who is old enough to be her grandfather.
Guests include a one-time boxer (Joshua C. Jackson) and an itinerant Bible-seller (Eli James), both with secrets to hide. The guesthouse is threatened with foreclosure, and it may be that Nick will find escape by running off with long-term guest Mrs Neilson (Maria Omakinwa), who waits for money from her late husband’s will. There are distinct echoes of Steinbeck in this depiction of the dark side of the American Dream.
So far, so bleak, but the gloom is lifted by moments of humour. Elizabeth’s dementia has disinhibited her, and the unpredictability of her behaviour is often very funny. One moment Elizabeth is a sadly damaged little creature, but in the next she is a joyously impish free spirit, whirling across the stage in a mad dance. Frances McNamee is astonishing in this role, not least for the soaring purity of her singing.
That brings us to the beating heart of Girl From The North Country: Dylan’s songs. These do not serve to advance the narrative, or to underline character. In a literal sense, they are not ‘about’ the action of the play. Instead, they offer a passionate and poetic reflection on the events shown. It is as if the souls of the characters are suddenly free to give voice to their deepest feelings. Once one abandons any attempt to make a direct, prosaic connection between song and situation the result is deeply affective. No Dylan aficionado need fear, for these interpretations are uniformly superb, and the singing is astonishingly good. Instrumentation is supplied by ‘The Howlin’ Winds’, a quartet featuring Ruth Elder on violin, whose playing has the haunting, lonesome quality of a distant train whistle.
The beauty and power of the music threatens to overshadow the narrative which, at times, can be a little challenging to follow. Put simply, too much happens. In addition, there will be those who seek in vain for some signs of hope – Girl From The North Country has real beauty, but little optimism. Nevertheless, the music truly takes flight and will stay in the memory long after this extraordinary show is over.
★★★★☆ Mike Whitton, 1st February, 2023
Photo credit: Johan Persson
