'Sunny Afternoon' review — the popular Kinks musical returns with Swinging Sixties rock and rebellion

Read our review of Sunny Afternoon, written by Joe Penhall, now in performances at Alexandra Palace to 31 January.

Summary

• Popular British musical Sunny Afternoon comes to Alexandra Palace
• The show is based around the songs and story of band The Kinks
• Danny Horn stars as frontman Ray Davies
• The production features colourful 1960s design and dancing

There’s one major reason to book a ticket to Sunny Afternoon – the 2014 jukebox musical built around the brilliant back catalogue of The Kinks – and that’s the songs. And it’s true that "Waterloo Sunset", when it comes, is dynamic. But otherwise you may feel you’d be better off staying at home, dusting off a classic album, and playing it there instead. The experience would be considerably less exasperating.

Let me be clear from the outset: I am a fan of The Kinks’ music. Unfortunately, Joe Penhall’s book reduces the band’s extraordinary rise to fame to something oddly sterile and, frankly, dull. What should be a story bursting with rebellion, personality and tension instead plays out as a plodding procession of events. And the songs themselves? They’re present, certainly, but they rarely send shivers down the spine in the way you might expect – or hope – they would.

The evening opens with the band’s early incarnation as The Ravens, a backing group for crooners, before they claw their way into the spotlight and catch the attention of influential music producers. From their humble beginnings – they’re not-so-affectionately described as “scruffy working-class oiks” – we watch as their early singles soar into the millions, even as the band quietly implodes behind closed doors, fuelled by bitter arguments and bruised egos.

At the heart of this collapse is the feud between frontman Ray Davies and his brother Dave. Yet, in this production directed by Edward Hall, their conflict is played with a strangely apathetic quality that drains it of any real dramatic force. As Ray, Danny Horn lacks the requisite charisma, ambling through the band’s biggest hits, frequently behind the beat and slightly out of tune. What should feel electrifying instead resembles average karaoke.

Horn’s performance makes the production a tough one to get on board with. How are we supposed to believe this largely vacant man is a tormented artistic genius? As for the rest of the band, they remain largely in the shadows, afforded little in the way of character development. Even Harry Curley’s tender interpretation of bassist Pete Quaife fails to make the mark it should, lost amid Penhall’s flat, functional writing.

Elsewhere, Miriam Buether’s set design places the drama inside a world of music. A mosaic of speakers covers the back wall, while drum kits and guitars remain onstage throughout, poised to be picked up and played. It’s a wonderfully colourful picture, with some great 60s dancing thrown in too. Yet if this environment is meant to reflect Ray’s supposed musical obsession, alas it rarely aligns with the man we see in front of us.

It’s a real shame, as this is bound to leave devotees of The Kinks – of which there are many – disappointed. The story is genuinely worth listening to and by the end the whole audience is up on their feet singing along. But this production as a whole is far more grey than sunny.

Sunny Afternoon is at Alexandra Palace to 31 January. Book Sunny Afternoon tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Sunny Afternoon (Photos by Manuel Harlan)