Girl From The North Country **** Edinburgh Playhouse

Twenty songs are wrapped beautifully around a strong narrative to a create a show that is miles apart from the formulaic musical jukeboxes which have filled theatres in recent years.

Set in the Great Depression of the 1930s, it chimes with the grim times and social issues engulfing us today - the sense of despair and fragility as we are swamped by a cost of living crisis that feels relentless.

Written and directed by Connor McPherson, it packs a huge amount into its two acts with a substantial ensemble filling the stage; actors and musicians intertwined throughout the gently unfolding narrative.

Girl From The North Country is set in a hotel on the verge of financial ruin where the family owners are struggling to cope with their own issues while catering for all the wanderers who pass through their doors.

There’s a lot to soak up in the first half as we are introduced to each character, all of them looking for crumbs of hope in the bleakest of times.

Owner Nick (Colin Connor) is trying to keep all the plates spinning while looking after his wife Elizabeth, superbly played by Frances McNamee, as she spirals deep into dementia.

His son Gene (Gregor Milne) is a wannabe writer with a drink problem, while his adopted daughter Marianne (Justina Kehinde) is pregnant at 19, and so he tries to set her up with the elderly, lonely Mr Perry (Teddy Kempner) in a bid to secure her future, however inappropriate it sounds.

Guests include a newly released prisoner and a preacher, there’s a couple with a son with learning difficulties, a widow waiting on her inheritance, and a GP with a morphine addiction.

It sounds depressing, but it isn’t. The narrative slowly draws you in - more so in the second half - and the seamless switch to the songs of Dylan make this one continuous piece of theatre that leaves no room for rounds of applause.

There is sharp humour, specially from McNamee’s character, and some sublime choreography that is beautifully measured in its movement.

And then there are those magnificent,diverse vocals that bring Dylan’s work to life and sit at the very heart of this production.

Slow Train Coming, and Like A Rolling Stone are stand-outs, and then they deliver a remarkable Forever Young as a finale.

Girl From The North Country is at the Playhouse until Saturday, October 22.

Ticket info here: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/girl-from-the-north-country/edinburgh-playhouse/