THEATRE REVIEW

JULY 2024 | Volume 241

 

Ring of Fire is not a play but a “theatrical concert” of about twenty tunes from the Johnny Cash songbook. Performing the songs, roughly arranged to approximate the arc of Cash’s life, the six actors sing and play all the instruments—guitars, piano, fiddle, banjo, stand-up bass, washboard and, briefly, drums—on Patrick Rizzotti’s woody cabin set. Some of the songs are exciting, some not. But the musicianship is always superb.

The opening numbers, establishing Cash’s rural Arkansas roots, his sharecropping family and deep Christian faith, are pretty dull until a lively arrangement of the traditional “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” The white Southern gospel tradition underlies much of Cash’s best songwriting and performance. No single actor represents Cash himself all the way through, though Frankie Cottrell is Cash most of the time. Catriona Murphy, a standout on the fiddle, sings the women in his early life as well as Sam Phillips when Cash first gets involved with Sun Records.

Things pick up when Johnny meets the love of his life, June Carter, sung by Devon Busswood. Her clever “Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart,”a rousing duet of “If I Were a Carpenter,” the fine title song, and the whiz-bang “Jackson” end the first act on a definite upswing. Busswood’s rapid-fire “I’ve Been Everywhere” brings down the house to open act two. Its other highlights are Cash’s prison songs, especially “Going to Memphis” with its powerful hammer-and-chain percussion, and his best song, “I Walk the Line.”

Other biographical details—Cash’s drug problems, June’s death—are barely sketched out and unnecessary to appreciate the songwriting, music and musicianship. Director Rachel Peake rarely overdramatizes the musical scenarios, a good thing because acting is not the strongest element of this show. Bass man Patrick Metzger and guitarists Tainui Kure and Daniel Deorksen round out the cast. All play multiple instruments. Great work from musical director Steven Charles.

Muddy sound has been a perpetual problem with Arts Club musicals. This show’s revelation for me was the quality of so much of Cash’s songwriting. To appreciate it you have to be able to hear the music AND words. So special thanks to sound designer Trevor Tews for the clearest, crispest sound I’ve ever heard at the Granville Island Stage.

 

 

 

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