Dylan’s songs are built like tanks – they just get stronger
Irish playwright Conor Mcpherson landed the huge honour of writing a production based on the songs of Bob Dylan. He tells JEFFREY DAVIES how he met the challenge ahead of the UK tour of Girl from the North Country coming to the Bath Theatre Royal
THE double Olivier and Tony Award-winning smash-hit production of Girl from the North Country, written and directed by celebrated Irish playwright Conor Mcpherson – and with music and lyrics by the legendary Bob Dylan – takes to the stage in the West Country next week.
Direct from the West End, this is the first Dublin and UK tour of an uplifting and universal story about family and love which boldly reimagines Dylan’s iconic songs like you’ve never heard them before, all brought to life by an extraordinary company of actors and musicians.
“To be associated with Conor is one of the highlights of my professional life. It goes without saying the man is a genius for putting this thing together and I’m thrilled to be part of the experience. My songs couldn’t be in better hands,” said Dylan at the opening of the Broadway production of the show.
Conor Mcpherson was given free rein by Dylan, below, to pick any songs from his full catalogue. There is a mix of more recognised songs in this production alongside those that are less known.
It’s 1934 in the heartland of America. We meet a group of wayward souls who cross paths in a time weathered guest house. Standing at a turning point in their lives, they realise nothing is what it seems. But as they search for a future, and hide from the past, they find themselves facing unspoken truths about the present.
An award-winning West End and Broadway smash-hit which first opened to huge critical acclaim and sold-out houses at the Old Vic in London in 2017, what makes Girl from the North Country such an extremely wellreceived show by critics and audiences alike? “Well I suppose it’s like any show, it’s a confluence of things that make it work. But first of all I would say that there is the beautiful music in the show, which is a really strong element within it, and it is beautifully performed by the cast. And the show has wonderful scenery as well,” a most friendly and welcoming Conor Mcpherson told me from his home in Dublin. “The other aspect of the show’s success might be that it’s unexpected in the sense that it’s not about Bob Dylan. It’s set in the 1930s before he [Dylan] was born; in the Great Depression – like now I suppose. Looking into the unknown a little bit and trying to figure out the next move. It has a nice communal feeling. Relationships develop and the music transports us into the subconscious dreamworld of the characters in a strange way, allowing us to get to know them on a different level. All of that kind of adds up to a show which is perhaps somewhat different to other musicals.
“We’ve been very fortunate. When you’re doing a show for the first time you really have no idea whether people will like it until the audience comes in. You just hope they do. The audience are such an important part of the live experience. We’ve been very, very fortunate that ever since we started doing this show audiences have responded to it in a really positive and warm way, which has sustained it through a number of productions, so now we can bring it to a wider audience. It has been performed in London, New York, Canada and Australia, but this is the first time it’s managed to get out of those big metropolises.
“We did it in Dublin this year, which is really gratifying for me as someone who lives here, and it’s touring in the UK to some really lovely theatres like the Theatre Royal Bath.”
What prompted Conor to write what’s been described as a ‘masterpiece’?
“Well, I hadn’t considered doing a musical but I was approached through Bob Dylan’s management and asked whether I would consider using his songs in a theatre show. I wasn’t really sure of what they wanted or what that meant, so I was a little bit reticent. But then, without really thinking about it very much, I suddenly had this idea of a show that is set in the 1930s, which is outside of Bob Dylan’s lifetime. It wasn’t about him but about other people. So I wrote up a page-and-a-half idea – a treatment – and they came back and said he really liked the idea and would like me to pursue it,” Conor explained with understandable pride.
Said one critic: “Bob Dylan’s legendary songs have never sounded so heartbreakingly personal, like you’ve never heard them before. Boldly re-imagined, they’re as close as mortals come to heaven on Earth. The play ‘has weaved
magic with Bob Dylan’s songs’.” So are the songs not as we know them? Have they been tinkered with?
“Well, Bob Dylan as a songwriter has his own subjective style which is very strong. But he is depending on the listeners to bring their own sense of meaning to the songs.
For every person who hears a Bob Dylan song they probably see something different in their mind which appeals to them in their own distinct way. And I’m no different and the cast bring their own personalities to the songs. Bob Dylan’s songs can absorb that. It doesn’t matter which way you push and pull them, they still remain intact. They’re built like tanks; they just get stronger,” Conor, 51, replied with a laugh.
Has Dylan seen the show? “Yes, he saw it in New York and absolutely adored it, and was very complimentary about it. He has also sent encouraging messages over the years, so we have a lovely relationship with him,” Conor said.
A playwright and director of his own play, it might appear a silly question, but is it easier or harder to direct your own work rather than someone else’s?
“It’s all part of the one process. The great thing is because you wrote it you can, as its director, also change it very quickly without having much objection. You can very quickly see what works and what doesn’t, and adjust it. I find that very reassuring and satisfying. But perhaps not every playwright is able to do that or have the confidence to stand in a room full of actors and work that way. But I started writing as a student and purely from necessity I had to direct my own things. So I grew up learning about writing and directing at the same time,” he answered.
Was it a challenge bringing Girl from the North Country to the stage?
“The biggest challenge with any show is battling with your own confidence. Is it going to work? Having said that, this one was a very organic process in the sense we had freedom to use whatever songs we wanted. We were able to use songs in different places and with different characters. It was quite pleasurable because a lot of the time we were playing music and enjoying that experience. It was tricky but always really enjoyable,” he said.
Would this show have worked as well with the songs and music of other celebrated singers and songwriters?
“I think it probably could have. There are other great songwriters in the world, of course, like Neil Young, John Lennon and Paul Mccartney, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Those kind of poetic songwriters offer real potential for such a show. Absolutely. But the opportunity of doing it with Bob Dylan songs was very, very special,”
Multi-award-winning Conor Mcpherson is an acclaimed writer, screenwriter, playwright and director of stage and film. Born in 1971, he attended University College Dublin, where he began to write and direct. His stage plays include Rum & Vodka, The Good Thief, St Nicholas, Dublin Carol and Shining City, as well as The Weir, Port Authority and The Seafarer that have toured to the Theatre Royal Bath. He was awarded a doctorate of literature in 2013 in recognition of his contribution to world theatre.
Dylan, 81, is one of our culture’s most influential and groundbreaking artists. Born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1941, he is self-taught on piano, guitar and harmonica. He travelled to New York City in 1961, quickly establishing himself as an explosive performer in the Greenwich Village music scene. More than half a century later, he continues to perform almost 100 concerts each year. He has released more than 50 albums and written more than 600 songs. He’s sold more than 125 million records and is the holder of 11 Grammy Awards. His songs have been covered more than 6,000 times by artists as diverse as Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, Guns N’ Roses, Bob Marley and Adele. A visual artist and author, too, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, the first songwriter to receive such a distinction.
Girl from the North Country is playing the Theatre Royal Bath from October 4 to 8. Tickets can be booked on 01225 448844 or online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk