The hit Old Vic Theatre production Girl from the North Country, written and directed by Conor McPherson and inspired by the music of Bob Dylan, has transferred to the West End’s Noel Coward Theatre, where it’s running until 24 March 2018. What have critics thought on second viewing?
Duluth, Minnesota. 1934. A community living on a knife-edge huddle together in the local guesthouse. The owner, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no-one will account for. When a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback show up in the middle of the night, things start to spiral beyond the point of no return…
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The Times: ★★★★★ “A tale of thwarted desire and desperate circumstances, plus Dylan songs to help tell the story, results in a show that transports the soul.”
The Stage: ★★★★ “The real revelation is Sheila Atim, stunning as Nick and Elizabeth’s adopted daughter Marianne. Hers is a theatre-filling, skin-tingling, heart-penetrating performance.”
Evening Standard: ★★★★ “Even if the narrative woven around the music is sometimes thin the performances have a beguiling generosity.”
The Telegraph: ★★★★★ “It remains a piece that feels both part of a particular moment in American history and of today. Very special.”
London Theatre.co.uk: ★★★★★ “Conor McPherson, who has written it and also lovingly directed it, provides an intricate and precise yet impressionistic account of these lives unfolding, with big and small dramas playing out there.”
Broadway World: ★★★★★ “In both his writing and direction, Conor McPherson has done incredibly well to highlight the importance of Dylan’s lyrics. There are no cheap gimmicks involved; it’s simply the music we all know and love, generated by a blend of undeniable talent.”
Culture Whisper: ★★★★★ “it’s Shirley Henderson who especially stands out, playing distant wife and mother Elizabeth with humour, heart and a strange, impish strength.”
British Theatre Guide: “The show is entertaining. I want to see it again. But despite the brilliance of its cast and crew it has no heart, no real concern for those who suffer an unjust world, and that given its subject is a missed opportunity.”
Metro: ★★★★ “Conor McPherson’s musical is an interpretation of the horrors faced by a community who live in fear – with the songs in place, it’s so tactile you can almost feel it.”
