The Royal Lyceum Theatre is playing host to Wild Rose, a new musical based on the award-winning 2019 film of the same name. Dawn Sievewright astonishes as the recklessly captivating Glaswegian country singer Rose-Lynn, whose only constant in a turbulent life has been “three chords and the truth,” the tenet of country music.
Freshly out of jail and returning to the two children she left behind, Rose-Lynn is not ready to settle down to life as a cleaner in Glasgow, and sets out, guns blazing, on a mission to make it to Nashville. Her road is deliciously fraught, with the trials and tribulations expressed through charisma, wit, and a formidable singing voice.
The ramifications of Rose-Lynn’s impulsive lifestyle are portrayed intelligently by Blythe Duff as both mother and grand-mother Marion. Her warming interactions with Alfie Campbell as nine-year-old Lyle and Lily Ferguson as bookish eleven-year-old Wynonna put her relationship with her own daughter under strain as she attempts to protect the children from the unpredictability of a dream. The talented young performers do a stirring job portraying the emotional impact of fractured maternal relationships and the conflict between personal aspirations and family duty.
Imperative to the atmosphere of this groundbreaking show is Chloe Lamford’s innovative set design that unites a gaudy country music venue, a stylish middle-class kitchen and a dimly lit, making-ends-meet home, to trace the path of Rose-Lynn’s journey to the realisation that there is “no place like home.” The use of onstage musicians backing the entire score additionally lends the ensemble even greater prowess on stage.
In the hands of innovative writer Nicole Taylor and director John Tiffany, Rose-Lynn’s story moves the audience seamlessly from the foot tapping opener “Country Girl” to the poignant “Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” that closes the show to uproarious applause. Where the 2019 film may be more stylistic, this powerful musical number adapted to the Scottish stage will provoke even the staunchest sassenach to yearn for the Scottish embrace.
This formidable stage adaptation is only the beginning for Dawn Sievewright as the titular Wild Rose, with this production paving the “yellow brick road” of the musical for years to come.
Wild Rose is playing at The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh until 19 April. Tickets available here: https://lyceum.org.uk/events/wild-rose
Image by Mihaela Bodlovic provided via Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh Press Release
