THE LOWRY, SALFORD, MANCHESTER – UNTIL 24 SEPTEMBER 2022
REVIEWED BY MIA BOWEN
4****
Girl From The North Country is not just another jukebox musical but a powerful and deeply moving production, written and directed by Irish dramatist Conor McPherson. The story is built around nineteen vintage songs by Bob Dylan. These songs are performed by the cast throughout the production, each song backed by instruments form the 1930’s. Girl From The North Country first premiered at the Old Vic in London in July 2017 and made it’s North American Off-Broadway premiere in New York, September 2018. Last night the accomplished cast performed to a packed-out audience at The Lowry.
As the audience walk into the theatre, you notice different instruments scattered across the floor of the stage. A member of the cast walks in unannounced and so begins the production’s first musical number ‘Sign On The Window’. Right from the outset the music transports the audience to a different time and place.
The musical is set in a guesthouse in 1934 in the middle of the great Depression and seven years before the songwriter was born, in Duluth, Minnesota, the birthplace of Dylan. The story is narrated by Dr Walker (Chris McHallem), the physician to the Laine family. The guesthouse is owned by Nick Laine (Colin Connor) and Elizabeth Laine (Frances McNamee), who has dementia and is facing foreclosure. Their son Gene (Gregor Milne) is a drunken would-be writer, whilst their adopted black daughter Marianne (Justina Kehinde) is pregnant and closely guards the identity of the father of her baby. The story focuses not just on Nick and his family woes, but on the residents of the guesthouse. Also staying there is Mrs Neilsen (Nichola Macevilly), a widow who is waiting for her late husband’s will to clear probate and the Burke family, Mrs Burke (Rebecca Thornhill) and Mr Burke (Neil Stewart) with their mentally disabled son Elias (Ross Carswell). Late at night, during a storm, a self-styled bible salesman, Marlowe (Owen Lloyd) and down-on-his-luck boxer Joe Scott (Joshua C Jackson) arrive looking for shelter and cause a catalyst of events and change everything for everyone in the house.
Arguably the strongest element of Girl From The North Country is its’ musical numbers. The songs are drawn from right across Dylan’s back catalogue including ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, ‘Hurricane’, ‘Make You Feel My Love’ and ‘Forever Young’. The cast is outstanding with their Fargo accents, emotional monologues, dancing and playing of musical instruments! The standout numbers for me were ‘Tight Connection To My Heart’ and ‘I want You’. McNamee who plays Elizabeth, the dementia suffering wife, deserves a particular mention. She is outstanding with her rip-roaring performance of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’.
Girl From The North Country is no doubt a must see for all music lovers but Dylan fans in particular.