‘Girl from the North Country’: beautiful and unmissable!
Award winning musical enjoying a run at the Old Vic in London and just few days left now, do not miss it…
By Suman Bhuchar
FOR FANS of the music and poetry of Robert Zimmerman, now known as Bob Dylan, ‘Girl from the North Country’ is a show not to be missed.
Originally premiering at the Old Vic in 2017, the show transferred to the West End (London); Broadway (New York); Australia; Ireland and toured the UK, along the way, winning two Olivier awards, a Tony (Broadway) and several nominations.
‘Girl From the North Country’ is a musical drama drawn from Bob Dylan’s musical oeuvre.
The story goes that Dylan’s record company got in touch with playwright, Conor McPherson offering him the chance to use the entire catalogue of Dylan’s songs to create a play.
McPherson, also an award-winning director and screenwriter, had not written a musical before and wasn’t sure how to respond…
So, he forgot about it, until one day he went for a walk by the sea near Dublin where he lives and an image of a boarding house in the Great Depression came into his head and thus the ‘Girl from the North Country’ was born.
It’s an incredible feat. The story, set in November 1934, takes place in a boarding house in Duluth Minnesota, the town where Dylan was born.
It is a time of poverty and unemployment. Each of the guests who live here has a background story which is very sad.
The narrator, Dr Walker (Chris McHallem, frames the scene and tells us “tonight’s story begins and ends at a guest house…”.
However, as in a Bollywood film, it is the songs that propel the narrative drive and give voice to the characters emotions. They are also tableau pieces on their own.
What you marvel at, is how McPherson was able to choreograph everything seamlessly from the position of where the characters stand to sing and play the tambourine cymbals, or percussion shakers, or any other instrument and how they move the furniture around to have breakfast or
talk to each other.
Nick Laine (Colin Connor) runs the boarding house, his wife Elizabeth (Katie Brayben) is ill (with onset dementia) but she has the best lines and an amazing voice.
Nick’s son Gene (Colin Bates) has aspirations to be a poet and their adopted daughter, Marianne, (Justina Kehinde) also gifted with a great voice is pregnant, so Nick is trying to persuade her to marry, the older and well-off suitor Mr Perry (Teddy Kempner), who once courted Elizabeth –
who makes fun of that fact.
You get to learn a lot about the boarders in a short space of time. Their lives are bleak. No prospects, no future, hanging on to a glimmer of hope and dreams.
Other guests include Mrs Neilsen (Maria Omakinwa), who’s having an affair with Nick – and then there’s the Reverend Marlowe, Scott and the Burke family.
You don’t have to be a fan of the music and each song speaks to you directly.
There’s a lot going on in the story and each scene. There are 23 performers, all are outstanding.
McPherson, has selected Bob Dylan’s songs from across his career and they are seamlessly integrated into the narrative.
My personal favourites are ‘Tight Connections’ to ‘My Heart’ (‘Has Anyone Seen My Love’) sung by Marianne; ‘Slow Train’ sung by Marlowe /Scott which segues to ‘Licence to Kill’; ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ sung by Elizabeth and ‘Hurricane’ /segueing to ‘All Along the Watchtower’.
The staging is simple, visual and atmospheric with the set and costume by Rae Smith, lightening by Mark Henderson and sound by Simon Baker.
www.asianculturevulture.com went to see it twice and we have been recommending it to our South Asian fans of Dylan’s music and those who love good theatre.
This is a masterpiece: heart-breaking, sad but utterly beautiful. Catch it before it departs…
ACV rating: ***** (five out of five)
Main Picture: The Company of Girl from the North Country
All pictures: ©ManuelHarlan for The Old Vic
Listing
‘Girl from the North Country’ written and directed by Conor McPherson with music and lyrics by Bob Dylan until Saturday (August 23) from 7.30pm (and 2.30pm matinees – Wednesday & Saturday) at The Old Vic, The Cut, London SE1 8NB
https://www.oldvictheatre.com/stage/girl-from-the-north-country-2025/
Show is suitable for age 14+
Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including a 20 min interval
