ONE DAY THE MUSICAL | ROYAL LYCEUM, EDINBURGH
★★★★
“Jamie Muscato and Sharon Rose are sensational…“
The performances of Jamie Muscato and Sharon Rose, the actors firmly at the heart of this charming new musical based on David Nicholls’ 2009 novel, lift this gorgeous-looking production to the next level. As Dexter and Emma they are magnificent.
For those who have never read the book or watched the movie or Netflix TV adaptations, One Day is a love story and like all the best love stories, it’s complicated. It’s Graduation Day for Edinburgh University’s Class of 1988. They’re now free to follow their dreams. It’s also the day that fate brings monied Dexter Mayhew and Northern lass, Emma Morley, together. An encounter that will change both their lives, forever.
One of the ‘Rankellior Street Mafia’ flatshare, working class Emma, from Leeds, and globe-trotting Dexter make an unlikely double act, but as the years pass the spark ignited by that first meeting remains as, once a year they come together in good times and sad, troubled and happy, their platonic long distance love affair becoming ever more complicated with each day that passes.
Under a large digital display that clicks away the years, we travel through the years with them, from Rome to a dodgy London Mexican restaurant, a Greek Island to a picnic on Primrose Hill (and another on Arthur’s Seat), from an old school rave to a society wedding and other significant milestones in their lives.
As the main protagonists, Muscato and Rose are stronger than the book and score they have to work with and make this production what it is. Sharing a gentle, occasionally explosive chemistry, they create complex, multi-layered characters that are well observed, emotionally solid and believable. Both boast impressive ranges vocally and are easy to fully invest in as a couple whose desires never quite align.
Strong support comes from Josephine Gabrielle, who is commanding as Alison Mayhew, Dexter’s mother, while the rest of the ensemble give spirited turns throughout.
That the Royal Lyceum has been reconfigured beyond recognition for the production makes the experience all the more heart-warming, at the back of what would normally be backstage, the theatre has never looked more dramatic, thanks to Rae Smith’s adventurous set design, which is really more of a full makeover for theatre.
From the replica boxes suspended above the playing area that are home to Musical Director Nigel Lilley and his five piece band, to the fully working bar that features in the production but well serves libations to the thirsty pre-show, Smith uses all the space available to arresting effect. You may even find yourself in one of the cabaret style ‘on stage’ seats, getting up close and personal with the characters as the action unfolds.
It’s an in-the-round design that would work brilliantly were the production to win a London transfer; either The Playhouse, currently the Kit Kat Club where Cabaret currently plays, or the newest of the West End theatres, @sohoplace, which is made for just such staging.
Abner and Amanda Ramirez’ poppy score is mostly easy on the ears, the opening song, One Day, being a toe-tapping favourite as is It’s My Day, which opens Act Two. Lyrically, there’s the odd clunky number that jars but that said, other songs like the simply titled, You, tug strongly on the heartstrings.
Putting movement to the numbers, Carrie-Anne Ingrouille’s often functional choreography is lively and imaginative while Bruno Poet’s spell-binding lighting design is all-embracing and brings extra depth to the storytelling that is, by the nature of the piece, slightly fragmented; David Greig telling the story through a series of time-travelling vignettes each a year apart.
Director Max Webster with a stylish hand ensures that despite the two hour 40 minute duration (including interval), neither songs nor scenes ever outstay their welcome, in fact the time, like the years, flies by.
Early on, the question, ‘What are days for?’ is posed… make sure you put one day aside to spend in the company of the ‘posh tw*t’ and the ‘Northern lass who dreamed of changing the world’. They really are, Must See Theatre.
Tickets HERE
