Sunny Afternoon

Charting the story of Ray Davies, co-founder of The Kinks, a revolutionary rock n’ roll band that came to being in the 1960’s with a spectacular back catalogue of hits including ‘Waterloo Sunset’, ‘Lola’, ‘You Really Got Me’ and the title song ‘Sunny Afternoon’, this story took us on a journey of sibling rivalry, young love, and music super stardom. Act one felt disjointed, with most scenes flitting from one to the next without the audience being able to find connections to characters and the roles they played in the story of the creation of this iconic band. I felt myself loosing interest, but as soon as the music kicked in it lifted the mood and made me feel more engaged. 

Danny Horn as Ray Davies, alongside Oliver Hoare as Dave Davies were both outstanding musically, with fantastic vocals and stage presence. It’s worth nothing that the majority of the cast also play musical instruments during the show, keeping them on stage and involved in the story. Each performer shone whilst playing their respective instruments and under the musical direction of Michael Cullen the hits reverberated throughout the auditorium much to the delight of the audience. Cranking the speakers up to 11 really did elevate the sound synonymous with The Kinks.