Look, this isn’t for everyone. The young girl next to me was bored waiting for some funny bits or some Razzamataz. In vain. (Although there’s some up tempo numbers at the top of Act 2)
But this isn’t a piece you watch for a night’s diversion. This is a show you watch with your heart and your soul, you let its melancholia seep into your bones and you emerge understanding that felling blue can be enriching and that down-beat can be majestic.
Rachel John (Mrs Neilsen) in Girl from the North Country. Photographer: Cylla Von Tiedemann
I'm not sure of the science behind this but pretty much all of us, at one time or another need a hug. And this delightful musical is the theatrical equivalent.
Bolton’s part-time dominatrix Josie, is about to turn 40, but she’s in no mood to celebrate. She’s tired of winter, tired of her daughter’s dreams of emulating Torvill and Dean, and certainly too tired to party — but her No1 client Lionel, is undeterred.
Inua Ellams follows his hugely successful Barber Shop Chronicles at the National Theatre with a new play about those caught up in the Nigerian/Biafra war.