By Pete Seeger. Adapted for the stage by Ross Desprez and Mark Hellman. Directed by Ross Desprez. A Firehall Arts Centre presentation of the production by the Other Guys Theatre Company. At the Firehall Arts Centre on Wednesday, November 4. Continues until November 14

The play’s not the thing; the music is.

When American folk-music icon Pete Seeger wrote his book The Incompleat Folksinger in 1972, he already had nearly four decades of musical activism under his belt, and there were another four to come.

This show, adapted by Ross Desprez and Mark Hellman from Seeger’s book, touches on the highlights of the musician’s career: travelling across Depression-era America with Woody Guthrie, providing inspiration for labour unions; being pelted by rocks after playing an outdoor concert with the legendary Paul Robeson; enjoying commercial success with the Weavers; and being sentenced to a year’s imprisonment when called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. And that’s all before intermission!

The through line here is his commitment to liberation through song. Early on, he sings “Which Side Are You On?,” and that chorus becomes a refrain as Seeger repeatedly chooses the side that resists oppression and fights injustice. But while others might label him “a politician pretending to be a musician”, there is always joy at the heart of Seeger’s enterprise. “We can get drunk on music,” he says early in the show.

So how does such an eventful and inspiring life—Seeger passed away at age 94 in 2014—make for such a dull show? In adapting Seeger’s text, Desprez and Hellman have failed to make it theatrical: instead, we get songs interspersed with chunks of text that feel writerly rather than conversational. Because they’re cramming 40 years into two hours, we get the highlights of Seeger’s experiences, but rarely explore them deeply.

It doesn’t help that Hellman, who’s playing Seeger, has a declamatory delivery style—he’s reciting paragraphs, after all—that doesn’t feel intimate. That’s unfortunate, given that Seeger was known for his remarkable ability to connect with audiences.

Hellman shines as a musician, though, playing a five-string banjo and a 12-string guitar, and getting the audience to sing along with classics like “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, “Guantanamera”, and “We Shall Overcome”. Seeger fans and folk music die-hards will love the songs, the most successful aspect of The Incompleat Folksinger. I grew up with Seeger’s music, and I can’t remember a play that had me singing along so much.

As theatre, The Incompleat Folksinger isn’t quite satisfying. But if you’re looking for a quick history lesson on the social-justice movements of mid-20th-century America and a subdued hootenanny, it just might do.