Sunny Afternoon

In a world of theatre literally littered with juke-box musicals, you know the kind, a string of pop hits tenuously tied to a flimsy story, Sunny Afternoon is a gem of a show. It tells the true story, based on the words of Ray Davies himself, of how The Kinks came to be, their rise to pop fame in the UK and their decline in the USA when they baulked at the insanity of the union system in place at that time. As his father says in the script “They are the first socialist band to be destroyed by the unions”. This is an unsugared pill, warts an all, from Ray’s depression, Dave’s crazy and wild behaviour and the fact that as a group they didn’t always get along – it all makes for an excellent evening of theatre. But this is a musical and to make that work for me that music has to be relevant, to progress the narrative in an appropriate and effective way. This is where the genius of this show lies, Ray Davies was writing from his heart and writing about his life. Every song from their great catalogue of hits, is poignant and well placed. It’s almost as if he knew that one day he would be involved in writing a musical about The Kinks.

That is all good, excellent in fact, but to make it work, to pull it off you need a cast of musician actors who can deliver both the story and the songs. That is where the magic in this performance lies – and what magic. From the minor characters through to the stars this is a first class company. They capture the spirit of the era, the early 60s, so well. They portray the class divide with humorous style but with edge too and they dance just like so many of our mums and dads danced, that exuberant sixties phenomenon that released a generation for the strictures of the ballroom.

All four band members are brilliantly realised. Garmon Rhys captures the shy Pete Quaife with charm, Andrew Gallo is blisteringly good as drummer Mick Avory, with a show-stopping solo. A word too about Lisa Wright who as Rasa, Ray’s wife, is wonderfully knowing – and sweet voiced too, a fine performance. Ryan O’Donnell gets to play Ray Davies, the toughest role. He was never an easy character and those troubles must be hard to capture in what is after all a musical entertainment. O’Donnell does it with a deft touch, just the right balance of genius touched by depression. Dave Davies was the wild “Dave the Rave”, a cross dressing, hard drinking, drug taking sexual adventurer, as well as an ace guitar wielding musician. Mark Newnham gets to play him and romp through the show in a blur of crazy drug and drink addled excess. In lesser hands it could become a farcical pastiche, but Newnham gives it his all, milking the comedic when it seems right but in equal part exploring the tragedy of this man-child exposed to the excesses of sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

A show for fans of The Kinks for sure but a great entertainment for anyone who enjoys seeing clever, well made, modern musical theatre.

13 December

Theatre Royal Brighton

Andrew Kay

5 stars