A lighthearted yet tragic story of coming out, immigration, and bead-clenching Catholic mothers.
Described as “65 minutes jam-packed with passion” (Ovation Radio) and “a bittersweet tale that’s filled with heart” ★★★★ (BroadwayWorld UK), this bold new musical has brought both laughter and tears to audiences across the UK.
Funny, heartfelt, and packed with original music, Have You Met Stan? follows one person’s journey to be heard in a world that keeps talking over them. It’s a story for anyone who’s ever felt out of place, unsure, or just a little too much — and wondered if that might actually be their greatest strength.
Whether you’re figuring life out, navigating love, or simply trying to belong, Stan is the friend you didn’t know you needed.
The Music
“Quietly powerful” (Broadway World UK) and messy queer love story
In a dim, worn-down Irish pub tucked away in a forgotten corner of East London, Séan, a fast-talking barman with a complicated past, is cleaning up after a wake. The drinks are nearly gone, the punters have stumbled home, but he offers you one last pint and a story. It’s the story of how he met Stan, a wide-eyed Polish migrant newly arrived in the city, and how the two of them tried to build something that felt like love in a place that rarely offered them space to breathe.
Have You Met Stan? is a genre-blurring musical that follows the emotional journey of two young immigrants, one from Ireland and one from Poland, as they attempt to make a life together in London during the early 2010s. It was a time of rising anti-immigration rhetoric, shifting attitudes toward queerness, and the growing pressure to define your identity in a world that doesn’t wait for you to figure it out. Through original music that blends folk, synth-pop, and choral traditions, Stan’s memory comes alive on stage, interrupting and reshaping Séan’s version of events with humour, insight, and emotional honesty.
Stan arrives in the UK searching for a fresh start, but quickly finds himself caught between cultural expectations, his mother’s Catholic guilt, the messy complexities of queer dating, and the challenge of being his full self in a city that never stops moving. As Séan pushes for an open relationship and past relationships begin to surface, Stan struggles to hold on to who he is and what he wants. The weight of invisibility, rejection, and longing becomes too much, and the story turns towards heartbreak and reflection.
Created by a team of queer and migrant artists, Have You Met Stan? is both playful and profound. It offers laugh-out-loud moments, tender silences, and music that stays with you long after the final chord. At its heart, this is a story about finding family in unexpected places, about the courage it takes to be vulnerable, and about the voices we carry with us — even after they’re gone.
