‘Girl From The North Country’ has arrived in Edinburgh after dazzling audiences in London’s West End and cities across the UK. The musical surrounds the guests, and family of a guesthouse in Duluth Minnesota in 1934 during the time of the great depression. ‘Girl From The North Country’ runs at the Edinburgh Playhouse until 22nd October.
Frances McNamee is astonishing as Elizabeth Laine. The complexity of this role with the nuances that the portrayal needs to convey is a difficult feat to undertake, however Frances captivates audiences with Elizabeth’s struggle, she nails the text’s comedy and staggers audiences with her sheer talent. Frances’ performance of ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ is one of the highlights of this production, it is sublime and really is an unexpected treat.
Maria Omakinwa delivers a stunning performance as Mrs Neilsen. The other woman in this story is portrayed in such an accessible and understanding way, where the audience reason with the character’s actions. Maria’s vocals are truly beautiful and draw the audience into the ambiance of this musical within the first ten minutes.
Colin Connor presents us a broken man as Nick Laine. The raw emotion that Colin conveys is devastatingly beautiful, you truly see the hardship this man has went through and this is through Colin giving Nick humanity to make his challenges resonate with the audience. This is a very strong performance, something which you would usually see within a Tennesse Williams or Arthur Miller play rather than a musical.
Justina Kehinde’s portrayal of Marianne Laine is one which encapsulates many different social political issues of the time such as racism, pregnancy out of wedlock and a woman’s role within the American household. All of these poignant issues are tackled through a beautiful, heartbreaking portrayal with such slight nuance, making Marianne’s journey all the more powerful. With this Justina’s voice punches the emotion in Bob Dylan’s music, with her gorgeous singing.
Gregor Milne’s devastating journey as Gene Laine is unsettling to watch. It’s clear to see how unhappy Gene is with his life, the anger and frustration is shown so candidly in Gregor’s portrayal. At some points you believe it could be subdued and more internal, yet Gene’s pain does grip the audience and we understand why he is so restless in life. His relationship with Katherine Draper’s Eve Norris does not reveal its full history and yet the connection between the two implies a failure to get on the same path, feeding further into Gene’s struggle.
Joshua C. Jackson’s portrayal of Joe Scott is beautiful, seeing a man who has been restricted by his complexion and stature in life yet show such kindness and light is very endearing to watch unfold. Joe and Marianne’s relationship is the most engaging within this production thanks to Joshua and Justina’s amazing portrayal of these two African Americans supporting one another with their struggles in which they can both relate strongly to.
Ross Carswell’s journey as Elias Burke shows a young man who is battling with his own demons, struggling to understand the world surrounding him. This journey is one which is disturbing to watch thanks to Ross’ heartbreaking yet unhinged approach to Elias’ struggle.
James Staddon as Mr Burke and Rebecca Thornhill as Mrs Burke both show the burden they hold upon their shoulders while also conveying a believable facade.
Eli James’ Reverend Marlowe supplies humour and corruption as almost a catalyst to the guesthouse’s day to day running. Teddy Kempner’s Mr Perry initially gives us a portrayal of a desperate man and yet as the story unfolds we see much deeper into the circumstances that Perry is entangled in. Teddy’s performance truly takes the audience on a rollercoaster where you feel repulsed by the characters motives at one point, then you feel sorrow for the situation Perry has found himself in.
Chris McHallem’s Dr. Walker acts as a narrator to this tale and yet his character fails to make a strong impression, that with key plot points being thrown away through narration. This could be a direction issue however it feels this character could have a further impression on the audience.
The ensemble for this production add energy, ambiance and emotion into this bleak musical, the ensemble are as follows; Frankie Hart, Graham Kent, Owen Lloyd, Nichola MacEvilly, Daniel Reid-Walters and Neil Stewart.
Connor McPherson’s direction of this musical delivers a stunning aesthetic, naturalistic performances and gorgeous visuals. This is also thanks to Rae Smith’s breathtaking scenic design, lifted by Mark Henderson’s atmospheric lighting design and effective costume design also from Rae Smith. With Lucy Hind building onto the mood and atmosphere of this musical with superb movement sequences, bringing a brilliant flow to scene transitions.
McPherson also pens the book for this musical, which could even be classed as a play with songs with how reliant it is on the dialogue to tell the tale rather than Bob Dylan’s stunning music. The downfall of this is that although the text has a superb concept, the delivery at points is let down by having the dialogue literally tell the audience pivotal plot points rather than show them the events unfold. This means the audience’s focus is paramount as blink for a split second and you can miss a main character’s demise. With this the dialogue which tells these pivotal moments is directed in a manner which does not emote nor emphasise the importance of the events, which makes it almost a throw away, giving these gorgeous and complex characters an anti-climatic ending. Also with this although Elias Burke’s journey is portrayed with such realism and care, his final moments on stage and the number that follows seems inappropriate tonally and also in terms of the context of the lyrics, this was one moment which felt like a misdirection from McPherson.
Bob Dylan’s music although performed so beautifully and powerfully, seems like an afterthought to this production. At points it seems it’s even shoehorned into the plot. Which is a shame as the premise, design and performance is all there for a five star production, however at points the writing over complicates it’s self or loses its profundity.
‘Girl From The North Country’ is a stunning piece of theatre which features actors that deliver raw and captivating portrayals. Despite the writing being lacklustre or over complicated at points, you cannot deny the sheer talent this production holds in terms of its cast and creatives.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Get your tickets from the link below:
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/girl-from-the-north-country/edinburgh-playhouse/
Theatre Scotland 
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