Book: Joe Penhall
Music and Lyrics: Ray Davies
Director: Edward Hall
This is not only a Sunny Afternoon, but sunny, superb, soul-lifting entertainment.
Remember The Kinks? They were one of the original British bands that formed part of the British Music Invasion in the 1960s, alongside The Beatles and The Who. This Olivier Award-winning jukebox musical is an absolute delight: from the music itself, which of course is brilliant and expertly performed, to the story of four young working-class, socialist young lads from north London who conquer Madison Square Garden in New York.
The individual performances are magnificent: from Danny Horn as Ray Davies, Joseph Richardson as Robert Wace, and Lisa Wright as Ray’s wife Rasa, to all the members of the cast of 16 multi-talented players and musicians. In Horn’s performance, we have part Damon Albarn, part David Essex, part Noel Gallagher, with an intensity and clear-eyed calm that is magnetic – a mix of composure, determination and vulnerability.
The combination of script, music, set, lighting and costume conveys perfectly the era, as does the ease with which young, talented, naïve musicians were taken advantage of by entering into ill-advised contracts.
Sunny Afternoon is a fabulous reminder of the music of The Kinks, from You Really Got Me (the first genuine hard rock record according to Bruce Springsteen), to A Well Respected Man, Lola, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Stop Your Sobbing, All Day and All of the Night, Dead End Street and the love song to London, Waterloo Sunset. It is impossible to listen to The Kinks’ music and not hear the forerunner of Oasis, Blur, Squeeze, Madness and many other British bands that stood on their shoulders.
Ray and Dave Davies grew up in north London’s Muswell Hill in a working-class family with six sisters. The Ray of the musical is a sensitive soul, for whom music appears out of the ether. His music captured the Zeitgeist of the times – the rebellion against the middle-classes and the status quo and the sudden freedoms for young people in the swinging 60s: the fashions, the promiscuity, alcohol and drugs. Ray and Dave were the original bad boys of British pop – their own best friends and worst enemies.
Days is the highlight of the show, sung a capella by Joseph Richardson and Tam Williams as the band’s managers as they give The Kinks permission to sign with different management to take them to the next level of their careers. As the song progresses, the managers and band sing together, still a capella – it’s an absolute treat. Generally, the most poignant scenes in the musical are those delivered more acoustically, enabling us to see and hear the acting and singing range of the actors, which are very impressive. In particular, the more thoughtful scenes between Horn and Wright as Ray and Rasa: This Strange Effect as they fall in love; Sitting in my Hotel and I Go to Sleep sung over the phone to one another; and Too Much On My Mind: “It seems there’s more to life than just to live it” is another lovely duet.
The individual titular song Sunny Afternoon was the soundtrack to England’s football World Cup win in 1966 and the scene in the musical where this is portrayed is a real highlight, with the audience covered in red, white and blue confetti.
The smaller characters in the story are inevitably somewhat two-dimensional, but they remain the right side of caricature, and whilst the songs are clearly not written for the musical, nevertheless, the choice of songs at each stage in the story works well.
The one less than convincing scene, at the end of act one, is of a performance that goes terribly wrong in Cardiff, with Dave being chased, pantomime-like, around the stage by a rather cartoon policeman. But that’s a small quibble in an otherwise excellent show.
The set by Miriam Buether is clever and effective for its simplicity – wall to wall amplifiers in England and American walls covered by the star-spangled banner.
The final scene, at Madison Square Garden, gets everyone up on their feet, clapping along to Lola and a medley of their dance tunes.
Sunny Afternoon is a wonderful, life-affirming reminder of a time and a genius that changed the direction of British music forever.
Runs until 21 February 2026 and on tour
