Two young people live on the same island – but on opposite sides, in different worlds. When they meet and forge a bond, to the consternation of their families, the “temperamental” gods wager a bet on whether love or death will win the day.

Lynn Ahrens (book and lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (music) tell the story in Once on This Island, a musical fable set in the French Antilles. Opening in 1990, it was their first Broadway show, which enjoyed a Tony Award-winning revival in 2017. They would go on to write Ragtime and Anastasia.

Thalia Osegueda Santos and Alexander Tye in Once on This Island. Photo © David Hooley

Based on the novella My Love, My Love by Trinidad-born American writer Rosa Guy, which took some inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, Once on This Island unfolds like a Caribbean fairytale. There’s a simplicity to the storytelling, and while it addresses darker themes like colonialism, class and social inequality, it’s a sweet, charming show that ends on an uplifting note without becoming saccharine.

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