Wild Rose musical at Edinburgh Royal Lyceum Theatre – review

What I know about country music could be written on the back of a postage stamp, so I’m far from the natural audience for a new musical about a reformed Glaswegian criminal who wants to become a country star. Yet, I found Wild Rose completely involving, swept up in the successful combination of story and music that every musical attempts but so few manage.

This is a brand-new stage musical based on the 2018 film which was directed by Tom Harper and scripted by Nicole Taylor. Taylor has returned to create the book for this show, and she has done a terrific job with a story that’s clear, clean and direct. At its heart is the aspirational story of Rose-Lynn Harlan, a Glasgow girl who’s down on her luck. A year-long prison sentence has left her estranged from her two children and cut out of her job as a singer at Glasgow’s Grand Ole Opry night club. She’s desperate to make it in the world of country music and pins all her hopes on a make-or-break trip to Nashville, but that seems impossible until a new job lands her with the contacts that just might get her there.

It’s involving because it’s a fresh take on a familiar story and because it has a powerhouse central protagonist, played magnificently by Dawn Sievewright. She inhabits every aspect of Rose-Lynn with mighty conviction, and she has a belter of a singing voice that brings lung-busting power to the big moments and touching poignancy to the gentler ones. Her foul-mouthed vivacity has the audience rooting for her right from the off, and her ups and downs are amplified and deepened by the clever use of music.

Director John Tiffany’s production quite literally puts that music centre stage by having the (terrific) eight-piece band onstage for the whole evening, and their flow drives the singers, projecting the emotional energy into the audience with a punch. Most of the songs are country classics, and they’re performed with pizzazz by a cast that has no weak link. Blythe Duff plays Rose-Lynn’s mother with humanity and conscience, and the children are played brilliantly by Lily Ferguson and Alfie Campbell. It’s a hallmark of Tiffany’s skill that all of the minor characters are brought to life just as compellingly, not least Louise McCarthy as the owner of the Glasgow club, and Hannah Jarrett-Scott who makes a huge impression out of the tiny role of Rose-Lynn’s friend Amanda.

Chloe Lamford’s flexible sets let the action unfold with unfussy ease. However, not everything is perfect: ably as the songs are managed, the show can’t entirely avoid the dramatic tripwires that come with any jukebox musical, and the will-she-won’t-she elements of the second act go round in circles a bit too much. That being said, these are outweighed by the fact that everyone involved in the show believes in it completely, which gives the audience license to forgive almost anything. Wild Rose’s initial run at the Edinburgh Lyceum has already been extended beyond its originally advertised date. A further life beyond this theatre seems inevitable.