ONE DAY THE MUSICAL
Royal Lyceum Theatre
★★★★
“a beautiful piece of theatre”
Headlining the Edinburgh musical theatre scene this season is the musical adaptation of One Day making its world premier at The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. With a stellar cast led by Jamie Muscato and Sharon Rose, this new adaptation of David Nicholls’ book is directed by Max Webster and, like many new shows of its type, begs the question: does everything need to be made into a musical?
One Day is a story about Em and Dex set over, you guessed it, one day. Across many years, that is. We first meet Em and Dex the day they graduate from university in, fittingly, Edinburgh on St Swithin’s Day 1988. Over the next couple of hours we follow these two characters through the trials and tribulations of their lives up until 2007. The plot weaves a delicious ‘will they won’t they’ relationship with beautiful moments of friendship and missed chances peppered throughout. If you don’t know the ending already I shan’t spoil it for you, but suffice to say make sure you pack your tissues.
The first thing you notice as you walk into the Lyceum is that they’ve completely done away with the stalls to create a bespoke, in-the-round setting. Audiences sit on the stage, as well as in a new seating bank facing out into the traditional auditorium. The staging is genius, and in a show all about human connection and the importance of living our lives to the fullest, Max Webster’s direction and Rae Smith’s set do a perfect job of inviting us in to share this story. The design elements across the board are excellent. Bruno Poet’s lighting design is dazzling; it at times paints a beautifully intimate portrait of two tethered souls and at others reaches out to fill the entire auditorium and make us part of the story. The retro costumes, ranging from almost painfully nostalgic 80’s hairstyles to 90’s Backstreet Boys style ‘cool’, are expertly crafted by Rae Smith. Carrie-Anne Ingrouille’s choreography perfectly balances its effectiveness with its necessity; the ensemble are strong, and their movements carefully designed to enhance the emotions of the lead characters.
Sharon Rose and Jamie Muscato (sounding and looking almost uncannily like Hugh Grant in his Notting Hill era) portray an effortless, enchanting chemistry which is the bedrock of this show. While both employ soaring vocals throughout, it is their honest and heartfelt acting that win us over. Miracle Chance provides an endlessly energetic portrayal of Em’s friend, Tilly and Dan Buckley is hilarious as Ian, Em’s comedian partner-turned-ex. Indeed, the whole show is punctuated with moments of hilarity, some clearly designed specifically to tickle the Scottish crowd. The cast are all helped along by the fact that the book for this show is excellent. David Greig, who is Edinburgh born himself, does a fantastic job of pulling apart the complexities of these characters and winding a narrative that justifies the heartbreak and catharsis we experience at the end of their story.
The problem for this musical, unfortunately, lies in its music and lyrics (Abner & Amanda Ramirez and Jeremy Sams). The lyrics often feel weak compared to the strength of the book writing. The music seems to sit at an unnaturally high pitch for some of the actors and feels disjointed from the tone of the rest of the show. There are moments of gold, of course, but for major musical adaptation one couldn’t help but feel let down that the music itself did not support many of the major emotional moments of the show.
One Day is a beautiful piece of theatre which is bound to offer a sense of connection to anyone who watches it. With stunning design and performances, it is a debut not to be missed. It has, however, rendered itself a musical whose strength does not lie in its music.
ONE DAY THE MUSICAL
Royal Lyceum Theatre
Reviewed on 11th March 2026
by Kathryn McQueen
Photography by Mihaela Bodlovic
