Johnny and June musical at Mayflower Theatre

If you have spent any time listening to country music, you know the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. The Ballad of Johnny and June, a new stage musical, is currently playing at the Mayflower Theatre on Commercial Road, and it is the kind of show that works as well for a first-time theatregoer as it does for someone who has seen plenty of them.

The production is a world premiere that tells the story of the couple's turbulent romance through the eyes of their son, John Carter Cash, who narrates. It follows them from their childhoods to their first meeting at the Grand Ole Opry in 1956, through to the proposal on stage in 1968, and across the highs and lows of fame, life on the road, addiction, arrests, controversies, marriage, family and devotion. It is not a sanitised version of their lives, and that is part of its appeal.

At the centre of it all is the music. The show is backed by a live band and runs through a soundtrack of the hits everyone knows: I Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, Jackson, A Boy Named Sue and Hurt. Christopher Ryan Grant plays Johnny Cash, a role he has lived with before, having played him in the Broadway production of Million Dollar Quartet, and Christina Bianco takes on June Carter Cash. Ryan O'Donnell narrates as John Carter Cash, the couple's only child, who is also an award-winning record producer and executive producer of the musical itself. The creative team is led by Des McAnuff, who directed Jersey Boys and has won two Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Musical, for Big River and The Who's Tommy.

The production has landed in Southampton as part of its UK and Ireland tour, and it runs at the Mayflower Theatre from 8 to 12 September, so there are only a few performances left to catch it before it moves on. Tickets start at £29.50, which is reasonable for a show of this scale, and the venue is easy to get to on Commercial Road, SO15 1GE.

For anyone weighing it up, it is worth knowing what you are getting into. The show runs roughly two and a half hours including the interval, and it is recommended for ages 12 and over, with content warnings covering drug and alcohol abuse, strong language and a rifle that appears on stage but is never fired. None of that should put off anyone who knows the real-life story the show is telling, and the In-Common review gave the Southampton run four out of five stars.

Whether you are a lifelong Cash fan or just looking for a night out with some great songs, this is a safe bet. It is a big, well-cast production that does not shy away from the messier parts of its subjects' lives, and with the live band and the hits, it is hard to leave without humming something on the way home. If you have been meaning to see it, the remaining nights this week are your window.