Girl from the North ‘sad and haunting’ evocation of economic despair

Girl From the North Country, with the music of Bob Dylan, Wellington Opera House, reviewed by Max Rashbrooke

Girl from the North Country, a jukebox musical woven from Bob Dylan’s old catalog by Irishman Conor McPherson, is a contemporary theater sensation that has played to critical acclaim in both the UK and the US.

Set in Dylan’s 1934 hometown – Duluth, Minnesota – the bleak story revolves around a disparate cast of characters who lived in a bleak boarding house during the depths of the Depression.

Bankruptcies, ex-cons, depressed wives, struggling writers, hard-up widows, dodgy Bible sellers: the full arsenal of desperate American ‘types’ is on display.

A dark brown-toned set – the main decoration a couple of chairs and a piano, and the lighting dimmed – feels simple but intimate.

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One of the show’s major innovations is that Dylan’s songs serve less to advance the action—or even explain a character’s thoughts—than to suggest an alternate universe of hopes and desires, things that half-glimpse. catch but are out of reach.

With a touch of gospel and hints of Irish folk, Simon Hale’s sparse yet intelligent arrangements reveal new depths in Dylan’s songwriting, and receive the treatment they deserve from a cast whose vocals are often outstanding.

A sad, delayed rendition of I Want You is particularly good, while Lisa McCune (as the ailing Elizabeth Laine) sings superbly on Like a Rolling Stone, and Blake Erickson (Elias Burke) almost steals the show with a stormy version of Duquesne Flute.

The show, which has to weave together more than a dozen individual stories, crackles on and the actors move quickly and seamlessly from main characters to backing dancers to occasional musicians. But if movement is the great strength of this production, it is also its greatest drawback. Even the show’s most sympathetic reviewers have noticed a propensity for caricature, which isn’t surprising given how little space each character can get.

That’s not to say the writing is bad; it is not. In the right hands, it would have enough drama and intrigue, and the characters enough power to overcome the urge to caricature. Some of his lines are enlightening. And there is room for an expressive gesture, a compelling tone change. Unfortunately, this Australian ensemble doesn’t use it often enough.

Instead, they run around, and are sometimes seen more eager to project an outward form of their character into the Opera House’s vast auditorium rather than reaching deeper inside.

A sad and haunting evocation of economic despair, this production still lingers in the mind – but could have been so much more.

Girl from the North country can be seen at the Opera House through Sunday.