1 of 2 2 of 2 One of the true giants of American music, Johnny Cash wasn’t just a songwriter—he was also a wildly gifted storyteller. That provided no shortage of inspiration for the musical Ring of Fire , which celebrates the Man in Black’s life in music. Six performers will dive into Cash’s greatest hits when the production plays the Arts Club’s Granville Island Stage—and while there’s dialogue, of course, the focus is on cuts from Cash’s impossibly deep catalogue.
“The question is, ‘What’s the dramatic arc?’ ” director Rachel Peake posits. “In some ways it’s set up as a reflective piece: someone at the end of their life looking back. Looking at, ‘What are the things that add up to a life?’ We had a lot of fun pulling that idea apart.
It’s a theatrical concert, but it’s also not a concert, because there’s a play at the centre of it. But it’s also very music-forward for a play.” To revisit Cash’s back catalogue—greatest hits and otherwise—is to find yourself immersed in a landscape where fledgling gunslingers end up shot down in saloons after getting their first taste of whiskey.
The world of Cash can be a morally ambiguous one where characters proudly announce, “I shot a man in Reno/Just to watch him die.” And it’s one where you strangely sympathize with drug-addled murderers when they confess, “I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down.” As a master class in storytelling, “A Boy Named Sue” arguably tru.