Dramaturgical Precedence: Music, Space and the Story in Conor McPherson’s The Night Alive and Girl from the North Country

Abstract

The spatial and musical cultures in The Night Alive and Girl from the North Country are complex and rich with meaning. Space and songs are integral components of both plays. While both plays have similar contexts in terms of being set within a great financial downturn, space and music are used differently to serve the narrative. The Night Alive relies on the creation of the space and setting to allow the audience a greater understanding of the characters and their backgrounds, whereas Girl from the North Country is a musical and therefore relies more on the music of Bob Dylan to help do something similar. This essay suggests that important aspects of Conor McPherson’s composition of space and music have been overlooked and that further examination is needed of the Irish experience concerning the significance of space and music used to advance a play’s narrative. Both plays deploy music in a way that assists the audience to become familiar with the space and in turn this creates a place, one in which the narrative of the play can sit comfortably.