“Pitlochry Festival Theatre summer season arrives with a rush of charm and acoustic romanticism”
Once is pure charm. That is the one thing it undoubtedly is. Because it is a musical, but also not really. It is a different sort of musical, as much an extended live session or a ‘Guy meets Girl’ romcom concept album. That it is a bit different is clear from the outset; the stage is a well-worn Dublin pub, with the audience encouraged to come up, get a drink and be immersed in the live Irish and Czech folk songs that preview the show. The functional Irish stage-pub is also the only bar in the Pitlochry Theatre where you can get a Guinness.
Set in Dublin, the story follows Guy, a disillusioned street musician ready to give up on music, and Girl, a Czech immigrant who coaxes him into believing in his talent. The songs the show is built around were written for a lost love, but begin to find new relevance amongst the ‘will they, won’t they’ plot of the central characters as they strive to record an album through sheer guts.
Musicianship and craft are centre stage in the production; the lead roles of Guy and Girl are played by Dylan Wood and Lydia White, who are enchanting musicians and singers. They anchor the show around which an incredible supporting cast, who alternate between being part of the action and accompanying the music from the edge of the stage, with a phenomenal array of instruments.
The plot is light but poignant, the focus being more on the themes of creativity and connection at the core of the play. The bittersweet tone of the story and the music are perfectly matched. Each character’s moments of hope and fresh beginnings are shadowed by harder realities. The songs, and particularly the Oscar-winning signature number “Falling Slowly,” seem to come from another era – one where sincere confession was carried exclusively by acoustic guitar rather than polished electronic pop.
Once is also a cultural rags-to-riches story in itself. The production was first staged in New York in 2012 and adapted from John Carney’s 2007 low-budget Irish film, with the production arriving in Scotland for the first time to open Alan Cumming’s inaugural season as Pitlochry Artistic Director. The play includes knowing nods to its history – with one scene a homage to The Commitments, from which one of the principal songwriters Glen Hansard, got his break. And lines inserted into the play that directly reference the critical acclaim that took a low-budget Irish film from Sundance to the Oscars, and its subsequent stage production from off-Broadway to a world tour – and even an appearance in The Simpsons, the ultimate stamp of cultural significance.
Once succeeds because it balances the mawkish elements of its sound and genre with something more sincere, giving it more emotional depth. And perhaps as an opening statement for Cumming’s tenure of the Pitlochry Theatre, Once is a carefully chosen piece. Honest, direct, accessible, beloved and yet always a little different from expectation.
This show runs at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until 27th June Tickets here.