Conor McPherson’s ambitious musical debut falls short of the mark in this folksy exploration of a Depression-era Midwest.
Girl From The North Country, written by Conor McPherson, is a musical that takes place during the Great Depression in the Midwest of America, in the harsh winter of 1934. The story follows the lives of the Laine family who run a struggling hotel, along with their friends and acquaintances who are also struggling with financial difficulties, illness, and other momentous life events. Our main character and authoritative patriarch, Nick Laine, is facing the possibility of foreclosure on his guesthouse, and his wife, Elizabeth, is unwell with a mental illness. His son, Gene, is unemployed and a heavy drinker, and his adopted black daughter, Marianne, is pregnant and unmarried, the father having abandoned her. McPherson attempts to interweave the musical catalogue of Bob Dylan within the play’s story, and indeed, the play is set specifically in Duluth, Minnesota, the birthplace of Dylan.
As an overall work, I felt a little disappointed by Girl from the North Country; we’re expected to follow and be invested in an unreasonable number of individual stories, and many of the songs chosen and their performances feel mismatched to the plot and somewhat shoe-horned in. The performance of “I Want You” between the characters of Gene and his ex-girlfriend Kate is soppy, drawn out and inauthentic. The song is clearly intended by McPherson to be a beautiful insight into the true feelings of both characters who have moments previously had a childish encounter where they both awkwardly denied their feelings for each other, and this attempt unfortunately falls short of the mark. As a whole, the work feels out of touch, not helped by the unfortunate clichés of the characters who (of course) turn out to be villainous.
Many of the musical performances felt too stylistically “perfect” and played too safe, giving the effect of feeling bland and unmemorable. I should note that an exception to this is Francis McNamee as Elizabeth’s stunning performance of “Like a Rolling Stone” which blew me away. The set design was also notable, giving the stage a vivid, three-dimensional atmosphere, and I enjoyed the harmonies of the choir and the stylings of the members of the musical accompaniment, who were bathed in blue background light throughout the play. Another honourable mention goes to a rendition of “Make You Feel My Love,” by a trio of three female characters that is unfortunately cut short.
Ultimately, this musical takes on more than it can handle and cycles through Dylan’s catalogue in a mostly ungraceful fashion. However, I would suspect that some of my critique is down to personal taste and would encourage everyone to see Girl from the North Country and make up their own mind