About the Play:

Once is a full-length musical with book by Enda Walsh and music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová based on on the much-loved Oscar-winning film of the same name. On the streets of Dublin, an Irish street musician and a young Czech immigrant are drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, an unexpected friendship and collaboration quickly evolves into a powerful but complicated love story that neither of them could have expected.

Once tells the enchanting tale of a Dublin busker who's about to give up on his dream when a beautiful young woman takes a sudden interest in his haunting love songs. As the chemistry between them grows, his music soars to powerful new heights... but their unlikely connection turns out to be deeper and more complex than your everyday romance. Since Once is about musicians, the show feels like a play with music, because the songs are a natural part of the storyline and there is no spontaneous bursting into song. While the bittersweet love story between a Guy and a Girl is the show's central plotline, there is plenty of humour from colourful characters. Once is the only musical to appear on Broadway to have music that won the Academy Award, Grammy Award, Olivier Award, and Tony Award.

Once premiered in 2011 at New York Theatre Workshop where it enjoyed a sold-out extended run before being transferred to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway for an open-ended run. It was nominated in 2012 for eleven Tony awards and won eight, including Best Musical. The production was also named Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critic Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards. It opened in 2013 at The Gaiety Theatre in Dublin before transferring to the Phoenix Theatre in the West End of London.

Cast: 5 female, 8 male

What people say:

"A jewel box of a musical: small, delicate, brimming with emotion and charm." — Vogue

"It may sound like heresy to fans of the 2006 film, but this bewitching stage adaptation arguably improves on the movie, expanding its emotional breadth and elevating it stylistically while remaining true to the original's raw fragility." — Hollywood Reporter

"The musical has a masterful, even revelatory, book by the Irish playwright Enda Walsh... it is no traditional screen-to-stage adaptation. Rather, it's a textbook example of how to do it right." — Chicago Tribune

"'Original and emotionally exhilarating." — Washington Post

"Miraculously retains the intimate feeling and freshness of fringe... it's funny, it's truthful, it sings. If London audiences don't love it to bits I disown them." — The Times (London)

"Wins you over with its simplicity, charm and air of melancholy." — The Guardian (UK)

"Charmingly funny and affecting... demonstrates the power of music both to express deep psychic hurt and to perform a cure of sorts." — The Independent (London)

"Walsh captures the fragile charm of the original movie in a book bursting with unexpected humour... offers a glimmer of sophistication to audiences tired of back-catalogue musicals and asinine plots." — The Stage (London)

About the Playwright:

Enda Walsh is a multi-award-winning Irish playwright and the author of five Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award-winning plays. He also co-wrote the film Hunger, which won the Camera d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. He lives in London. His work has been translated into over twenty languages and has been performed internationally since 1998.

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová are the stars and songwriters of the 2006 film Once, for which they won an Academy Award for Best Song. The two comprised the musical folk-rock duo The Swell Season, which was active from 2005 to 2011. Hansard is also a member of the Irish band The Frames and Irglová is a classically trained Czech pianist and vocalist.