David Hennessy was at a recent launch of Sing Street at the Lyric in Hammersmith where he spoke to award- winning playwright Enda Walsh.
Adapted from the popular film, Sing Street is about to become the latest Irish musical adaptation to hit the London stage.
Released in 2016, Sing Street is the coming of age film written and directed by John Carney.
Set in 1985, times are tough in Ireland and particularly for the Lalor family. Parents Robert and Penny, played by Aidan Gillen and Maria Doyle Kennedy, decide they have to move son Conor from the Jesuit school to the rougher CBS school.
The public school is a shock to the system for Conor, played by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and he is immediately on the radar of bully, Barry.
But something happens when he sees Raphinha, played by Lucy Boynton, standing across the road from the school.
Raphinha says she is a model and Conor has no problem believing it.
In an effort to impress, Conor hires her to star in a music video for his band. Only problem is he doesn’t have a band. Yet.
With his new friend Darren, Conor puts some musicians together and invites Raphinha to star in their video. This is the start of the band, Sing Street who take their name from the Synge Street CBS they go to.
The supporting cast also includes Jack Reynor as Conor’s brother Brendan and Don Wycherley as the bully Brother Baxter.
The Irish World was at the recent media launch of Sing Street at The Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith.
There we spoke to playwright Enda Walsh who has written the book for the new show.
This has already been a successful combination as Enda adapted John Carney’s previous film Once that had West End and Broadway success.
We also spoke to the actress Grace Collender who plays Raphinha and Sheridan Townsley who plays the lead role of Conor.
The band performed four of the tunes from the show, these included The Riddle of the Model and Drive it like you Stole It both familiar from the film and another song that shows the character of Brendan is further developed in the stage play.
The music is composed by Gary Clark.
Tony Award-winning director Rebecca Taichman (Indecent) directs a cast that also includes Tateyana Arutura, Harry Curley, Jenny Fitzpatrick, Indiana Hawkes, Cameron Hogan, Adam Hunter, Lloyd Hutchinson, Lucianne McEvoy, Jesse Nyakudya, Lochlann Ó Mearáin, Matthew Philp , Seb Robinson and Jack James Ryan.
Enda Walsh told the crowd at the launch: “I lived through that period.
“I was the age of these characters in 1985.
“I was that age and I really wanted to do it.
“First of all, I love the film.
“It’s an absolutely beautiful film and also it was a little bit of a sort of nostalgia trip for me because I actually wanted to sort of go back to that period of when I was 16 or whatever.
“I actually wanted to have a conversation with me at that age and also think about Ireland at that age from a sort of society point, it was a really interesting time for Ireland.
“It was the last days of the church before Ireland took little baby steps into secularism, what it is now: This great forward thinking country that I’m very proud of.
“But back then, it was very sort of monochrome and also in the area that I lived, it was sort of 40% unemployment.
“There’s a line in the piece about Ireland, ‘It’s not a country for young people’.
“And certainly for my age, it was a bit like you had to get the boat, you had to get the hell out of there.
“You either had to go to London or if you were sort of feeling that way inclined, you could go to Germany and work in a factory or you could sort of be really brave and f**k off to America, but I had none of those things and I was really cowardly and I stayed put.
“But what I loved about the piece and what I love about theatre making or bands or whatever, it’s the effort of actually dragging something out of nothing, disparate people who come together and actually make art or music out of absolutely nothing.
“I know at that age I was, as I am now, really, really inarticulate but it was about actually trying to do something outside of yourself, outside of the street, outside of Dublin, outside of the sort of the depression of that time and begin to just be outside of who you are as an individual.
“I think a lot of the story of Sing Street is about that.
“It’s about watching these kids come together in this Christian Brothers School and make something together and find something of themselves in that.”
Enda Walsh is a Tony and multi award-winning playwright and director from Dublin.
His work has been translated into over 20 languages and has been performed internationally since 1998.
His plays include Disco Pigs, The Walworth Farce, Ballyturk and Misterman.
He adapted John Carney’s Once into a Tony Award- winning stage play.
Enda Walsh told The Irish World: “We are delighted to be here in London putting it on here.
“These kids are incredibly talented so I’m excited for an audience to experience that, for sure.”
How do you write it as a play while keeping the energy and other qualities of the source material?
“I think in theatre stage terms all the time.
“Theatre is 3D and sort of has its own language, it has its own swagger, has its own stage craft and all of that.
“It’s trying to sort of find and unlock what the staging is going to be.
“You write it in the script but really it’s a provocation to the director because part of the show is also seeing how it moves around that stage.
“This is a story about this band and this disparate group of kids who come together in a Christian Brothers school and hang out in Dublin.
“But, ‘what does the stage look like?’
“It needs to sort of create its own aesthetic and Rebecca Taichman is the master.”
It clearly variates from the film and that’s been evident already in further development with Brendan..
“No, it changes. Of course it does.
“If it was just changing the font and sort of putting it on stage, then it would be the easiest job in the world.
“No, it needs to sort of exist on its own terms.
“The film is beautiful. You can be a fan of that movie and come and see the piece and go, ‘Oh my God, you can see the film in it but it’s a different beast for sure’.”
You did Once before, was there a plan since very early on to give Sing Street similar treatment?
“No, there wasn’t.
“I mean, I saw the film.
“I absolutely loved it and this was after sort of making Once.
“But when it was suggested by Barbara Broccoli, the producer, that she wanted to do it I thought, ‘Oh my God, wow’.
“And then with Rebecca Taichman on board, it was like, ‘Wow. This feels like a really great opportunity and also sort of an opportunity for me to sort of revisit my youth, 1980s Dublin’.
“It was fantastic to sort of swim in those waters again.”
It was a very different Ireland back in the 80s that the show depicts, wasn’t it?
“Very different Ireland.
“Very, very tough.
“I mean, you can only sort of think about back then (afterwards) because when you’re living through it, you just get on with it but actually sort of in hindsight, there was a lot of poverty.
“The recession really hit bad and there was a lot of emigration and a lot of tears at airports and people leaving, that Irish story.
“That was my experience living in Dublin.
“It was tough but there was still sort of an Irish, Dublin, scrappy spirit about it which I like.”
There is the family breaking up, the CBS’ brutality and then Raphinha is in a home for girls so Ireland’s social problems are all hinted at..
“It’s all in there.
“I mean, it’s a beautiful film. It’s a really fantastic film.
“There’s many, many, many themes within the piece.
“It’s all of that.
“This piece works when there’s a truth to it, there’s a realness to it, a realness to the characters.”
London represents so much to the characters, doesn’t it?
“It’s always been the case.
“It’s a world city.
“It’s like New York.
“When you go to New York, you get everyone so there’s a lot of dreams wrapped up in that, lot of disappointment, a lot of dreams that don’t come true so a lot of story around the immigrant story, for sure.”
There is sadness for me in characters like Raphinha and Brendan..
“There is sadness but you have to have a light touch to that to make it sort of hit in the way that it needs to.
“There is definite sadness in there for sure but it’s the energy of the band. It’s their love of music and their love of one another that really powers the piece along.”
Conor could be a star making role for sure. Might we have found a star in Sheridan Townsley?
“It’s a huge role and Sheridan- Oh my God Almighty, what a voice and what a presence.
“You’re right but you’re watching the transformation of all those characters into what they think they want to be, but particularly through him.
“It’s one of those classic hero journey sort of stories in that we see the world through his eyes.
“He is the spotlight.
“He’s in every scene.
“He’s pretty special.”
How different is it adapting something like this to when it’s your own work?
“Projects like this the canvas is larger.
“You’re aware that it’s for a larger audience.
“My own work I just, sort of, shoot from the hip and I do it.
“But then there’s a lot of me in this production too.
“But you’re aware on productions like this, you’re writing for a larger stage for sure.”
When do you know you have something special with a piece?
“You have to get in front of an audience.
“Well you sort of recognise in the rehearsal room there’s something right about it, there’s something true.
“I’ve been lucky.
“I’ve had a few times and it’s amazing when it happens.
“It’s like catching a butterfly.
“It’s really beautiful.”
You now live in Kilburn which is not as Irish as it once was..
“I’ve been there about 20 years now.
“You can still meet the odd Irish person in Kilburn but that generation has sort of passed away.
“I occasionally come across some 90 year old woman who is delighted to hear my Irish accent.”
Sing Street is at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith 8 July – 23 August 2025.
For more information and to book, click here.