June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me – Summerhall, Dissection Room

Performed cabaret style with tables and chairs, it’s well worth arriving a little before the stated ticket start time, with drinks in hand, to snag the best viewpoint. Early birds also get the significant bonus of a personal welcome from writer/performer Charlene Boyd, sashaying between tables humming tunes and chatting in American drawl like a hospitable Texas mam.

Boyd has come a long way from the seeds of an idea, germinated during the lockdown-years, recently divorced mum of two, in her very unglamorous Glasgow high-rise! As the hamster wheel stopped for many of us, Boyd showed that it’s amazing what you can achieve when you have time on your hands!

But Boyd always knew she was better placed than almost anyone to write the story of June Carter, having sung for the last 14 years in a Glasgow, Johnny Cash tribute band.

Backed by a brilliant three-piece band on stage, who also, cleverly, voice various characters, and supported by a strong creative team including director, Cora Bisset, and MD Pippa Murphy. The result is a fully formed and heartfelt tribute show-cum-memoir, which shines with truth as well as talent.

Reminiscent of, and perhaps partly inspired by the film Wild Rose (2018), which features a young Glasgow singer’s hopeful pilgrimage to Nashville, to become a country star, Boyd recounts her own 3924.87 mile odyssey from her children, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic in search of answers, and inspiration in what resolves with an unexpected plot twist to produce a very nice ending, a closure of sorts – but no spoilers here!

Boyd produces her very own ‘three chords and the truth’ with a stunning solo performance that resonates and quivers like the string of a steel guitar. Her debut as a playwright and possibly her only one. But it’s a good one.

Reviewer: Greg Holstead

Reviewed: 8th August 2024

North West End UK Rating:

Running time – 1hr 20mins