Review | Bob Dylan musical Girl From the North Country at Chichester Festival Theatre is 'the least "jukeboxey" jukebox musical possible'

Jukebox musicals have become a right of passage for the veteran pop act.
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Queen? Check. Abba? Of course. Cher? And then some.

So among the table-dancing mammas and the boom-boom-clapping rockers, where does Bob Dylan fit in? Well, he’s certainly legendary enough. With a list of accolades and awards as long as your arm and a six-decade career to boast of, he’s not short of material to draw from.

But as you can imagine, his back catalogue has about as much in common with glitter and Dancing Queens as Cher would with an ironing board.

The company of Girl From The North Country, at Chichester Festival Theatre in January, 2023. Picture by Johan PerssonThe company of Girl From The North Country, at Chichester Festival Theatre in January, 2023. Picture by Johan Persson
The company of Girl From The North Country, at Chichester Festival Theatre in January, 2023. Picture by Johan Persson
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Which is why this always had to be the least ‘jukeboxey‘ jukebox musical possible.

For one, it’s not exactly cheerful; it’s set in the Great Depression, for a start. The year is 1934 in Duluth, Minnesota, and the Laine family run a guesthouse on the brink of closure. Nick is trying to guarantee his childrens’ futures by getting his deadbeat son Gene a job and his pregnant, adopted daughter Marianne a husband, all while caring for his mentally-ill wife Elizabeth with the support of his lover Mrs Neilsen.

The ensemble is completed by their guests, including newcomers Joe Scott, a wrongly-convicted black boxer on the run from the law, and travelling bible salesman Rev Marlowe, who is not all he seems.

The company of Girl From The North Country, at Chichester Festival Theatre in January, 2023. Picture by Johan PerssonThe company of Girl From The North Country, at Chichester Festival Theatre in January, 2023. Picture by Johan Persson
The company of Girl From The North Country, at Chichester Festival Theatre in January, 2023. Picture by Johan Persson

Writer and director Conor McPherson has opted for many lesser-known deep cuts, favouring songs that further the story over a plot that is bent out of shape to fit the big hits. And even those that do make the list, such as Like a Rolling Stone and Make You Feel My Love, are stitched together to form something new.

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There is no attempt to replicate Dylan’s vocal stylings either; each actor is given a chance to reimagine the song in their own image. Praise goes in particular to Frances McNamee as Elizabeth, who realises the ethereal, Celtic quality of Dylan’s melodies and Maria Omakinwa as Mrs Neilsen, who brings the soul… and the house down at the end of the show by leading the chorus through a God-fearing rendition of Pressing On.

The result of all these factors is a show which honours Dylan in the most fitting way possible: by telling a great story, first and foremost, amplified by the music.

Until January 28.