When an Irish busker and a young Czech mother meet through a shared love of music, their songwriting sparks a deep connection and a tender, longing romance that neither of them could have expected.
Based on the much-loved Oscar-winning film, Once is an extraordinary, original and irresistibly joyous celebration of love, friendship and music. With music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, it has a book written by Enda Walsh.
Once won eight Tony Awards when it opened on Broadway in 2012, including Best Book and Best Musical. It opened in Dublin in February 2013 before transferring to the West End.
'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
'Wins you over with its simplicity, charm and air of melancholy'
— Guardian
'There is genuine warmth and inclusiveness to this show... best of all is Enda Walsh's script, which has great, puckish fun applying a bit of Brechtian silliness to the romcom formula'
— Time Out
'Quiet, wistful, tender... it has a delicate soulfulness and a truthful charm'
— Evening Standard
'Charmingly funny and affecting... demonstrates the power of music both to express deep psychic hurt and to perform a cure of sorts'
— Independent
'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
'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
Best Book of a Musical, Tony Awards
Best Musical, Tony Awards
Author Biography:
Enda Walsh is a multi-award-winning Irish playwright. He lives in London. His work has been translated into over twenty languages and has been performed internationally since 1998.
His recent plays include: Medicine at the 2021 Edinburgh International Festival and Galway International Arts Festival; Arlington at the 2016 Galway International Festival; an adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Twits for the Royal Court (2015); Ballyturk and Room 303 at the 2014 Galway International Arts Festival; Misterman, presented by Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival in Ireland, London and New York (2011–2012); and several plays for Druid Theatre Company, including Penelope, which has been presented in Ireland, America and London, from 2010–2011, The New Electric Ballroom, which played Ireland, Australia, Edinburgh, London, New York and LA from 2008–2009, and The Walworth Farce, which played Ireland, Edinburgh, London and New York, as well as an American and Australian tour, from 2007–2010.
He collaborated with David Bowie on the musical Lazarus (New York Theatre Workshop, 2015, and West End, 2016), and won a Tony Award in 2012 for writing the book for the musical Once, seen on Broadway, in the West End and on a US tour.
His other plays include Delirium (Theatre O/Barbican), which played Dublin and a British tour in 2008; Chatroom (National Theatre), which played at the National Theatre and on tour in Britain and Asia (2006–2007); and The Small Things (Paines Plough), which played London and Ireland (2005).
His early plays include Bedbound (Dublin Theatre Festival) and Disco Pigs (Corcadorca).
His film work includes Disco Pigs (Temple Films/Renaissance) and Hunger (Blast/FILM4), winner of the Camera d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
