Review: Once (på svenska)

Every actor can easily find an instrument in the five-star musical Once, which works better on stage than in a movie

★★★★★

A passionate group of twelve actors-musicians fills the stage and brings emotions to the surface in this Irish musical.

Lilla Teatern’s new-style musical Once fulfills one of my biggest wishes.

When I watch musical theatre, I always feel great joy when the director has placed the musicians on stage for the audience to see. This does not happen very often.

The orchestra usually plays in a pit or with microphones in the back storage of a set set, even if the story takes place on a theatre ship or in a jazz club, where the presence of musicians would be at least natural.

In the musical, directed by Jakob Höglund, the artistic director of Lilla Teatern, everything is different. Once doesn’t just fill the stage with musicians, it manages to transform the entire stage into an orchestra.

Based on the film Once (2007), written and directed by Irish director John Carney, the musical returns to fresh, simple basic settings.

I dare to say that a love story built around two musicians is much more suitable for the stage than for the screen.

Live music plays a central role in the work, as the story is conveyed primarily through music. In fact, the music forms the whole story of the musical.

The physicality of the theatre lifts the charge to completely different spheres when the audience sees the musicians working with their instruments in front of them.

Enda Walsh’s musical adaptation strips away almost all external features from the film’s story. The encounter between a Dublin street musician (Tuukka Leppänen) and a Czech immigrant (Emma Klingenberg) takes place around their shared passion.

The main venues are a music store and a recording studio, so that every actor can easily find an instrument in their hands.

Musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who played the lead roles in the film, are also responsible for Once’s music, and their song Falling Slowly won an Oscar for the original song.

Borrowing its strong rhythm from Irish and Slavic folk music, Once resonates with the whole body and sinks deep into emotions.

Intensive Tuukka Leppänen only had to sing the first bar, so there was even a lump in his throat.

Emma Klingerberg is a strong interpreter when she settles down at the piano and is also a very sensitive actress.

The musicians with an acting background in the performance make many delicious characters.

Robert Kock’s fiery music merchant, Ulriikka Heikinheimo’s versatile roommate and Alexander Wendelin’s bank manager are in themselves a kind of miniature musicals.

Santeri Helinheimo Mäntylä, Kalle Ruusukallio and Riku Vartiainen change instruments on the fly and are also great stage personalities.

However, the most personal singing performance of the evening will be provided by comedian Pia Runnakko, who plays the girl’s mother.

Once is truly a musical for adult tastes, and nothing prevents you from taking children there either.

It’s a good idea to go to the theatre on time, and not just because of the safety distances. Before the performance, there is a fifteen-minute jam session on stage to Irish music.