Sing Street (Lyric Hammersmith)
Verdict: Sounds like teen spirit
The School Of Rock meets The Commitments in this rough but ready Dublin-set film-to-stage musical. In the opening image, a dolls’ house is pulled apart to reveal what’s happening inside. Three kids are watching Top of the Pops in the bad-old Eighties, drooling over the New Romantics, bopping to Blondie.
It’s the highlight of the week for this once ‘posh’ family which has run out of money because of Dublin’s flat economy and even worse, run out of luck.
Conor’s mum is having an affair, his dad is drinking, his dope-smoking brother can’t get himself out of the house, his new Christian Brothers school (motto: ‘Act Manfully’) is run by bullies and the headmaster hates him.
In a bid to impress (actually, get off with) a punky wannabe model, Raphina (Grace Collender), Conor asks her to be in his music video.
The lad hasn’t even got a band.
That Eighties Feeling: Sheridan Townsley (centre) as Conor, and the gorky, gormless mates he transforms into a glam rock band, in order to win the girl
Lucky, then, that Sheridan Townsley’s Conor has a fabulous voice and, with a smear of eye-liner and lipstick, is rock-star gorgeous. Oh, and all his gawky, gormless mates just happen to be super-talented musicians. The band is born.
Characters are flimsy, the plot schematic and predictable in Enda Walsh’s book, which may just as well have been written by Chat GPT on a bad day.
Eventually Rebecca Taichman’s wonderfully winning production collapses into an all-out gig.
Hanging on the telephone: Grace Collender as the object of Conor’s desire: the punky, wannabe model Raphina.
Scrubs up nice: Conor (Sheridan Townsley) goes from nerdy new kid at school to the frontman of his own band, in order to catch the eye of Raphina
Boys in the band: Conor (centre) and his friends form a band in Enda Walsh’s Sing Street, at the Lyric Hammersmith. The musical is based on the cult hit film of the same name.
But such is the teen spirit, the astonishing energy and raw talent of all involved, with many of the performers making their theatre debut, Sing Street sings loud and clear about the possibility — no, the absolute certainty — of dreams coming true and the irresistible power of music.
And a couple of the numbers (music and lyrics by John Carney and Gary Clark) have staying power. ‘Girls’, sung by Conor and his sister and then reprised by Raphina, is one; Conor’s sweet, funny, catchy Up is another.
An Irish fairy tale on many levels. What’s not to like?
Sing Street runs at the Lyric Hammersmith until August 23.
