Once - Darlinghurst Theatre Co, Sydney

I had meant to give a review of this, but as it was originally sold out I didn't want to encourage people to want to see something they couldn't!

But it has now extended for another week till 4th August, so if you happen to be in Sydney here's your chance.

I was really impressed by this production.Despite being only a 2nd preview everyone was up to speed and it really wizzed along. (That is until one player hurt himself and we had to stop for 45 minutes, but that wasn't a usual preview issue)
It's a small theatre, about 200 seats, and the staging though smaller than the usual still included the bar, the central double pub doors and Guy's room off in the corner. Instead of the players busking on stage pre-show, they roamed the aisles playing and chatting to the audience as they found their seats.
Toby Francis gave us a sweet, sad and heartfelt Guy, probably ranking #2 in my list of Guys. Stefanie Caccamo's Girl was less assured, and her accent seemed to wander a bit, but musically excellent.
The reduced stage did mean that movement was scaled down, but they made excellent use of the space available. Although the standing on things was curtailed in Act 2 after the injury.
Chatting during the enforced interval, I found most of the audience hadn't seen Once before, and they thought this version was wonderful!
Certainly the night I attended,riotous applause and standing ovations all round.


I would see it again if I could. Do see it if you can.