The Ballad of Isobel Gunn at Symposium Hall Review
The Ballad of Isobel Gunn tells the story of the titular character, a lass from Orkney who passed as a man, travelling to Canada for work, only to end up bearing a child and being sent back to the Scottish island.
Told mainly through songs, the piece portrays Isobel as a woman who yearned for adventure instead of a life staying inside and knitting. The music flows well, even if lines here and there feel a little on the repetitive side, yet it was nice to hear a range of instruments in the tracks compared to the single piano that many are limited to. It was a shame that no one clapped after each song, meaning the audience were just as observant to costume and prop changes as they were during the scenes.
A one woman show, the piece felt like it could have benefitted from a second actor playing the rest of the characters instead of voiceovers, which always have the chance of acting up.
Prior to the show beginning, Melanie Gall let the audience know that they had been ill, meaning the last two shows had been cancelled so apologised in advance if some notes sounded off for couldn’t hit them fully. There were a few times here and there when I could she was having issues, but after the first couple songs it started to mellow out. At the end, Melanie said that she has basically performed as an alto instead of her usual soprano, which she again apologised for, but in my eyes it meant that we got a special one day only performance, never to be replicated again.
The Ballad of Isobel Gunn effectively tells the Orkney lass’ story through music but never really explores the woman, only her story on the surface level.
The Ballad of Isobel Gunn plays at Symposium Hall until 29 August
★★★
Written by Kerry for Theatre and Tonic, August 2026.
