Wild Rose originally starring Jessie Buckley, to be adapted into a stage musical

Wild Rose, the award-winning film starring Jessie Buckley, is to be turned into a musical.

Written by Glaswegian Nicole Taylor, Wild Rose is set to be adapted by Taylor and John Tiffany, the director of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The show will receive its debut at the Royal Lyceum theatre in Edinburgh in March 2025, with further dates expected to be announced.

Taylor has several screen adaptations under her belt, including Netflix hit One Day, Three Girls, The Nest and The C Word.

The writer said she always believed in the dramatic potential of Wild Rose: “I held on to the rights, even though as a first-time writer I had no negotiating position and I’d never written a word for theatre. I knew it would take theatrical form at some point.”

Alongside Killarney woman Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose stars Julie Walters and Sophie Okonedo.

The film tells the story of Rose-Lynn Harlan (played by Buckley), a single mum, cleaner, and former prisoner whose sights are set on Nashville stardom. Harlan is a cleaner by day, but at night she fronts a country band.

Speaking on Wild Rose, Taylor says: “The dramatic question feels as enduring as ever,

"That is: once you are a mum, what are you allowed to want? And if you’ve got talent, is that a trump card?”

Tiffany, who directed the Glen Hansard musical Once  said Wild Rose was perfect for the stage: “It’s a gorgeous mixture of a truthful, engaging story and the beautiful genre of country music. Rose-Lynn is such a fantastic Glasgow character, the contradiction within her; she frustrates you and makes you fall in love with her in equal measure. I could see it on stage immediately.”

Taylor has been a fan of country music since the age of 12 and is delighted by its recent rise in popularity. “As Rose-Lynn says, country music is about getting what’s in here out, and that feels inherently right for a musical where people express themselves in song,” she said. “I wouldn’t be a writer if I hadn’t discovered country music because I still use it to understand what I’m feeling and to be able to describe it.”

In spite of her recent Netflix adaptation of One Day attracting audiences of 15.2 million,  Taylor said she is thrilled about her first foray into theatre: “I’m overjoyed. It’s such a responsibility: you’re getting people out of their houses, making them physically sit there. I feel such a responsibility to be really good – more than if you’re watching telly and you can just turn it off,” she said.

The musical runs from 6 March to 5 April 2025 and will feature songs by Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Wynonna Judd, Chris Stapleton, Caitlyn Smith, the Chicks, and Patty Griffin, as well as the film’s original song, 'Glasgow (No Place Like Home)'. It will be choreographed by Steven Hoggett and Vicki Manderson, with a set designed by Chloe Lamford.