Excellent exploration of the boundaries of musical theater
About four years ago Connor McPherson, playwright of the successful play: The Weir, was asked if he would consider using the songs of Bob Dylan in a theatrical play. He dismissed the idea at first, thinking the songs lacked a certain theatricality. He didn’t think of Bob Dylan as a ‘musicals musician’. But after he thought about it for a while, he came up with an idea how to use the songs in a theatrical setting: the songs aren’t used as a narrative device or presented as actual songs. They’re used, as Connor describes it, ‘to create a conversation with the scenes’.