Sunny Afternoon

 

Curve, Leicester

21^st April 2026

“Complicated sells”

Some may have found it odd that Ray Davies won an Olivier Award in 2015 for Outstanding Achievement in Music for songs he’d mostly written 50 years earlier. But those songs are so catchy, so ingrained in people’s memories that they’ve achieved longevity. Whether it’s the hard rock sound of the opening chords in hits like ‘You Really Got Me’ or the specifically English and elegiac lyrics of songs like ‘Waterloo Sunset’, Ray Davies is undeniably worthy of that Outstanding Achievement in Music honour. So much so that the musical treatment was perhaps inevitable, and Davies’ and Joe Penhall’s 2014 musical Sunny Afternoon went on to win the Olivier for Best New Musical. That original production, first staged at Hampstead Theatre, has been remounted for a new tour, currently playing at Leicester’s Curve Theatre.

Penhall’s book charts the humble North London roots of the Davies’ brothers, The Kinks’ early success and their uneasy rise to fame, and personal and professional fallings out along the way. It’s a classic rags-to-riches narrative that’s nothing new in musical theatre. For those who have seen Beautiful:The Carole King Musical, MJ the Musical, TINA – the Tina TurnerMusical, The Cher Show, Jersey Boys and plenty of others will be familiar with the arc. But what sets The Kinks’ story apart is that the band are charged by a fiery fraternal relationship and distinctly English and quirky sensibility. Edward Hall’s sunny production opens with the old guard: a version of the band in their infancy playing backing music to upper middle-class parties with a Toff frontman. ‘Fuck this’ one of them cries and they break through to the front of the stage with that raw rock sound. It’s a theatrical ‘setting the scene’ which establishes the change in the culture in the 60s: the end of deference, a burgeoning new generation coming into its own as the country was still thawing from the war. We hear how the band came up with that hard rock opening riff by slashing a speaker to make a shattering, audience-rattling sound which defines a band and an era: cutting edge, edgy and hopeful. Early tensions with managers, record companies and producers come from their sound, image and even their name being shaped in a way which isn’t natural for them. Comparisons to The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones partly caused these with a view from the managers to try and emulate their success. But ultimately doing their own thing, capturing a sense of home, specifically London, is what works for The Kinks: ‘I’ve been stuck in England, writing songs about England’. Penhall shapes this journey coherently and it’s clearly an area he’s interested in. In his 2018 play Mood Music, a singer-songwriter and her interfering producer showed how artistic and professional differences can arise when so-called experts intervene. In Sunny Afternoon, those external problems come from suspect financial agreements, union membership and a disastrous early tour in the US which also contributed to setting them apart from the other ‘British Invasion’ bands. Songs are interwoven throughout, either played by the band as if on Top of the Pops or at a live gig, or (more effective in my opinion) incorporated more introspectively and personally in the book scenes.

It may not be breaking new ground in musical theatre, but what really makes Sunny Afternoon stand out is its execution. Dave Davies swinging from a chandelier, bloody fights, a Vespa, champagne sprayed into the audience and an accomplished actor-muso cast give the show the energy at which The Kinks strived. This creates some wonderful set pieces against the backdrop of Miriam Buether’s wall of speakers. And the musicianship of the band and cast is off the charts. Danny Horn as Ray Davies captures his more thoughtful energy, Oliver Hoare shows Dave Davies’ edgier, doing-his-own-thing vibe. Zakarie Stokes as Mick Avory has a brilliant second act drum solo which reminded me of Miles Teller in Whiplash. And Harry Curley as the somewhat reluctant bassist Pete Quaife has a hilarious anxious energy. It’s good to see some of the original cast in supporting roles returning too, such as Tam Williams and Ben Caplan. The cast love the show just as much as some devoted Kinks fans in the audience. And for those who don’t know much about The Kinks, like me, you’ll be fans by the time ‘Lola’ plays out at the curtain call.

Sunny Afternoon plays at Curve, Leicester until 25^th April as part of a UK tour. For more information, please visit https://uk.thekinksmusical.com/

Danny Horn as Ray Davies and Oliver Hoare as Dave Davies in Sunny Afternoon. Credit: Manuel Harlan