The Girl from the North Country (Off-Broadway)

It's a NYT Critic's Pick and fresh off an acclaimed run in London, I was looking forward to this show. Rachel, always the lucky one, won two (out of four per performance) rush tickets to see the show. However, I must admit I was disappointed. I didn't really get it. The music is done in a totally different style than anything Bob Dylan has ever sang. And the arrangements are really well done (I love the double bass and fiddle, but why don't they use the piano at the front of the stage more, and is the drum really necessary?), but I'm unsure how any of the music tied into the play. Was I not paying close enough attention to the lyrics?

The story doesn't have a clear protagonist. Everyone plays support, which begs the question, who is the girl from the north country? There are several girls in the play. I felt like some of the scenes didn't play out. For example, there is a bit of blackmail that doesn't come back (unless I missed it when I dozed off a little?).  I don't really feel like we get a satisfying ending to anyone's story line. Or maybe that's the point. Depression era theater isn't exactly uplifting.

I wonder Bob Dylan would say about this. In his Nobel lecture, he talks about how Shakespeare didn't consider his works literature. He was writing plays, thinking about casting and staging. In a similar vein, Dylan doesn't consider his work literature. He writes songs, and readily acknowledges that, but maybe in the future we will study Dylan as literature. Here, his lyrics are considered in yet another context. And new context demonstrates its versatility, really highlighting his skills not as a musician, but dare I say, as a writer.