Last Updated on July 23, 2025
Much-loved musical coming-of-age story gets a heartfelt, joyful reboot from an adorable, multi-talented young cast.
4.0 out of 5.0 starsCast your mind back – to a time before smartphones (or even mobile phones); before the Internet; before The X Factor, on-demand streaming, or autotune vocals. Yes, I’m talking about The Eighties – and this is the era that provides the backdrop to a new stage production of Sing Street. Particularly in the British Isles, it was a hugely fertile and exciting time for music, with youngsters everywhere realising that they too could find like-minded friends, learn to play instruments, and form their own bands – no matter who they were or how humble their beginnings. It was the dawn of MTV and the music video, and suddenly, forming a band required attitude and style rather than enormous musical proficiency. Being in a band then was properly cool – much more so than winning a TV talent contest or amassing TikTok followers by singing in your bedroom could ever be – and if you struck it lucky, it could be your ticket out of poverty and mundanity.
This spirit of youthful optimism, against the background of the economic depression of 1980s Ireland, provided the setting for the much-loved 2016 film Sing Street, on which this show is based. The film was written and directed by Irish film director John Carney, who grew up in Dublin in the 1980s (and attended the real Synge Street school) before playing bass in the Irish rock band The Frames and directing some of their music videos. The original music and lyrics in both the film and the stage production were composed by Gary Clark (formerly frontman of the Scottish band Danny Wilson). Both Carney and Clark return to reprise their creative roles in the stage version of Sing Street, which premiered off-Broadway in 2019 with plans for a Broadway transfer in 2020, which was cancelled owing to Covid-19. But as it turns out, Broadway’s loss has been London’s gain as Sing Street opened at the Hammersmith Lyric last Friday.
For those who are unfamiliar with the film, the show’s storyline centres on a teenage boy, Conor, whose family is in financial and emotional turmoil. When he meets a mysterious girl, the best line he can come up with at short notice is “I’m in a band – do you want to be in our music video?” and so he finds himself as the new kid in school, unexpectedly having to form a band from nothing. Along the way, we get to meet and glimpse the struggles of his struggling parents, depressed older brother, high-achieving sister straining under the weight of parental expectations, fragile girlfriend, and dip into the social minefield that is an all-boys religious high school. But we also meet his young bandmates and feel the very real exhilaration of the boys realising they are doing it – making music and shooting videos just like their heroes. The stage show is very faithful to the film, Sing Street (a conscious decision by Carney given the film’s passionate fanbase), down to the casting of talented but unknown young performers in the lead roles – a brave but excellent choice which I felt added hugely to the charm and energy of Sing Street the show. The other truly remarkable aspect of the show is that there is no band offstage – each performer not only sings, acts, and dances but also plays one or more instruments live on stage. It brings a tremendous energy to the stage and leaves me marvelling at how talented each performer is.
Bob Crowley’s stage set for Sing Street is minimalist, comprising a desk, a bed, a TV, a sofa, and a phone booth, which make up the full extent of the set, aside from the various musical instruments that are either idle at the sides of the stage or wheeled on as required. All other scenes are created by clever use of projections to depict at various times a TV broadcast of Top of the Pops; the hedges of suburbia; Conor’s school; and the ocean. The green Irish “Telefon” booth is repeatedly used to excellent effect, serving both as a symbolic prison in which Raphina (Conor’s love interest) is trapped as well as a moving vessel in which Conor and Raphina “set sail” across the stage. Lisa Zinni’s costume design is also on point, veering deftly between the drabness of Conor’s school uniform and the eclectic exuberance of the band’s makeshift New Romantic costumes – a picture-perfect rendition of a penniless 80s band trying their best to emulate Duran Duran and Adam Ant on a budget!
But it is the young cast members of Sing Street who truly impress. Sheridan Townsley makes his professional stage debut (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland class of 2025) as Conor, combining charming schoolboy vulnerability with the charismatic swagger of a teenage Yungblud. He transforms effortlessly from a shy schoolboy to quintessential New Romantic vibes, complete with eyeliner, floppy hair, and a blond quiff. His vocals are clear and powerful and pack an emotional punch, particularly when he duets with Adam Hunter as older brother Brendan. Adam (also making his theatre debut) is a successful songwriter, producer and musical therapist and brings a lot of heartfelt emotion to the stage as we see him variously battle depression and addiction; educate Conor in the seminal work of Duran Duran and the Cure; and cheer on his brother’s musical aspirations and ambition to escape their situation, even as be mourns his own lost opportunities.
Grace Collender as Raphina (Conor’s love interest) also makes her UK theatre debut and brings 80s Madonna insouciance to the stage, while delivering a wonderfully Kate Bush-esque version of Beautiful Disguise, one of a small handful of new songs added to the stage show of Sing Street. No less impressive are the rest of the Sing Street band: charming Harry Curley (who already has a number of stage credits under his belt after graduating in 2022) as bass player Larry; Indiana Hawkes (who supported Blur on their recent tour alongside dad Chesney) as Gary on guitar; BA (Hons) student Jesse Nyakudya on keyboard and piano as the anxious but talented Eamon; Matthew Philp (already a successful musician who has played with the red Hot Chilli Peppers) as guitarist Gary; and young Seb Robinson (who is studying music & drama after completing his A-levels just last year!) as drummer Kevin. And Cameron Hogan, as the endlessly optimistic and resourceful Darren, provides some great comic moments as he “breaks into the market” of managing a band and shooting music videos as a sideline to his high school studies.
The first half of the show is a real joy and moves along at a canter. Sing Street opens with another of the new numbers written for the show, “Everything Stops for Top of the Pops” – a riot of bright 80s colour and the sense of excitement that only those who remember a time before on-demand streaming will truly understand. The narrative focuses on Conor’s struggles in his new school; the formation of the band; and the blossoming romance between Conor and Raphina, all against the backdrop of his dysfunctional home life and her dark past. But for the most part, we are carried along by the exuberant audacity of the boys forming their band and the first scene where they are all chatting around Eamon’s piano, full of ideas, crackles with enthusiasm and energy. The scene where they film the Riddle of the Model music video is another highlight, evoking so perfectly the hilarious visual tropes that were the trademark of 80s New Romantic pop videos.
The second half of Sing Street, while still good, seems to get bogged down in too many disparate storylines, perhaps trying too hard to inject more gritty reality into the show. The parents’ unhappiness which does not seem so bad at the start (unlike the film version where their constant arguing is what drives Conor to escape into songwriting) ramps up confusingly rapidly. Raphina’s murky family situation and past are brought to the fore but not explained particularly well; and school bully Barry does an abrupt U-turn for no discernible reason and stops wanting to mutilate Conor. There is also a whole side plot focusing on Brendan’s depression/agoraphobia, which is not really a theme in the film and which I feel is not adequately explained in the stage show. On stage, he is mostly portrayed as a sad and rudderless stoner, whereas in the film, he is a far more charismatic, angry and frustrated young man. He does get to deliver one of my favourite lines though: “No woman can truly love a man who listens to Phil Collins!” It feels like too many subplots are tackled, leaving too many dangling threads, but there is a stonking musical finale for the band as they take over the school dance, including an exuberantly irreverent performance mocking their strict teacher Brother Baxter. The ending (which, in the film version of Sing Street, involves the lovers setting off in a small boat to England to seek their fortune) is somewhat of an anticlimax, with the lovers slinking off stage to a sea that is only hinted at by a projection of the ocean. Meanwhile, Brendan remains alone on stage, air-punching in jubilation that his little brother has escaped in ways that he never had the courage to. I suppose it does refocus Sing Street on the redemptive power of music rather than being just another teenage love story, but I still found it slightly disappointing.
What never disappoints, though, is the music throughout Sing Street. There are original clips of 80s music and videos sprinkled through the show (most notably The Cure’s In Between Days; Duran Duran’s Rio; a-ha’s Take on Me; and repeated references to Duran Duran’s John Taylor – who was seated in the row in front of me in the theatre on Friday night!). But the real genius is Gary Clark’s original songs, which sound so authentically 1980s that it is hard to believe they were written in 2016! He strikes just the right balance between fresh tunes and riffs that sound super familiar from the 1980s but that you can’t quite place. The Riddle of the Model has more than a hint of Thomson Twins about it; Beautiful Disguise leans heavily into Kate Bush territory; A Beautiful Sea could have been written by Robert Smith of the Cure; and Drive it Like You Stole It is the lovechild of an Elton John and a Hall & Oates song. And you’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Conor’s heartfelt rendition of the ballad To Find You.
As mentioned, the entire cast impressed with their multi-talented performances. It is the first show I have seen where the whole production is both acted and musically performed live on stage by the cast – all the more impressive given that this is their professional stage debut for many of them. Their enthusiasm is infectious, their talent prodigious, and I suspect we will be seeing a lot more from most of them in years to come. Will you leave the show with new insights into the human condition? Probably not – but you will leave bathed in the happy glow of nostalgia for 80s music and every teenage yearning to be in a band or to have your love interest write songs about you. And I guarantee you will be humming the songs from the soundtrack for days to come – I know I did. It’s an undemanding, joyous and hugely enjoyable night out that will buoy your spirits and restore your faith in humanity and, frankly, we could all do with a bit of that in these troubled times.
Sing Street is on at the Hammersmith Lyric Theatre until 23 August – tickets start at £10.
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Lyric Square
King Street
London W6 0QL
Box Office 020 8741 6850
tickets@lyric.co.uk
Looking for something different? Check our review of the revival of Evita
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