Time to read 1 Minute
Author The Old Vic
Published 19/05/2025
It all started with a phone call
In 2013 writer and director Conor McPherson got a call out of the blue. It was from Bob Dylan’s record company, asking him if he’d consider using the singer-songwriter’s music in a theatre production.
McPherson hadn’t written a play using an artist’s music catalogue before and initially wasn’t sure how he’d weave Dylan’s music into a production of this kind. Then he had an idea.
It takes place during the Great Depression
One day when he was out walking, McPherson had the idea for a show set in the 1930s, during the Great Depression – a period of poverty and unemployment, caused by an economic downturn in the USA.
Setting the action before Bob Dylan was born would make each song timeless, rather than anchored to the time and the place in which they were written.
It’s set in the town where Bob Dylan was born
Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, where he lived until he was six. Having visited Minnesota, McPherson thought this would be a fitting setting for the show.
The action takes place in a guesthouse run by Nick and Elizabeth Laine. At the start of the show Nick’s in financial difficulty and Elizabeth’s health ‘hasn’t been so good lately’. Throughout the show, a host of characters from different walks of life come through the guesthouse, each with their own story to tell.
It uses music from across Dylan’s career
McPherson was drawn to the language and imagery of Bob Dylan’s lyrics. He wanted each song to exist ‘in its own little world’.
The songs which are used in the show are from many different eras of Dylan’s career. There are songs from 12 albums, ranging from 1963’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan to 2012’s Tempest.
Some songs, such as ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ are widely known. Others, such as ‘Make You Feel My Love’, ‘All Along the Watchtower’ and ‘Forever Young’ are perhaps more well known for their popular covers.
It’s critically acclaimed and award-winning
Girl from the North Country enjoyed a slew of five-star reviews during its first run at The Old Vic. Critics described the show as ‘an instant classic’ (The Times) and ‘piercingly beautiful’ (The Independent).
Since then, it’s been performed across three continents and won awards at the Oliviers and the Tonys.
It has a strictly limited run at The Old Vic
Girl from the North Country is back where it all began – The Old Vic.
It’s on for nine weeks only. Don’t miss your chance to see this ‘astonishing’ (Guardian) show.
