4 stars
Marcy Aurora is back. After twenty years in the slammer, the former country music queen is in the studio with a fistful of songs and a story to tell. The only stories the press are interested in, alas, is how Marcy ended up in jail. Marcy, however, has a record to make.
The everyday heartache of Lee Papa’s new play could be set to a million country numbers, and is brought to life here in Papa’s own production for the ad hoc French Broad company by Biz Lyon as a hard bitten Marcie. She is helped along by Catherine Mieses as Colleen, the studio engineer along for the ride, and who knows Marcy’s real life back catalogue better than anyone, egging her on with brutal honesty.
With a smattering of late night songs in a show not that much longer than a Grand Ole Oprey greatest hits record, the result is an intimate look at one woman trying to re-find her place in the world through the people she left behind. By the end, it might have taken a whole lot of hurt, but she finds her voice anew.
The List, August 2025
Zoo Playground 1 until 24 Aug. 8.15pm.
ends
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