Sunshine on Leith

I was delighted to finally make my acquaintance with this musical. It has been around on the amateur circuit for some years although rarely performed in the south of the country. However I have noticed that, recently, a number of productions have occurred across the country, possibly as a result of the more widely recognised 2013 film version of this musical. 

A storyline set to music of The Proclaimers means this is a musical firmly rooted in Scotland, and is essentially a jukebox musical, but with a good book by Stephen Greenhorn, and intelligent use of the songs, the cringeworthy feel of many jukebox musicals is firmly avoided.

The show ends with the Proclaimers most famous song which is a great way to get the audience on their feet following quite an intense, sometimes pessimistic, but ultimately uplifting, story about two recently discharged servicemen, Ally and Davy, who return to their homes and families in Leith, which is a suburb of Edinburgh. As they search for normality after the extremes of action in service, the storyline explores the themes of love and friendship, sacrifice, and personal growth. Ally’s marriage proposal to a childhood sweetheart Liz is rejected. Davy gets a mundane job while his parents relationship is threatened by the discovery years on, of the fathers infidelity. 

I have been saying for the last few Dawlish shows, that each one is the best I have seen here. I really thought they would not be able to better 2022’s Our House, but I was wrong. This production was definitely the best I have seen from this society. I could have sat through it all again immediately. It was well cast, and beautifully directed and performed and sung. 

I would not have expected anything less from this strong husband and wife team of director and MD. The direction was meticulous enabling scenes to run smoothly together. Cast moved the props, and furniture on and off the composite set, which had various playing levels, and this led to a cohesive and fast moving production. Company work was imaginative and interesting to watch with lots of action across the entire stage. No one was sat impassively in this show. It was very hard to believe that a good number of the cast were appearing on stage for the first time, so professional were their performances. 

A show such as this requires a very strong central cast and in Davy and Ally we had two of this areas most capable young male performers. I am familiar with the work of both and this was up there with the best for both of them. 

They were given a close run race though by a number of other performances. I loved Rab and Jean, Davy’s parents. They gave really likeable and sympathetic performances. I loved the way Jean dealt with the revelation of her husbands infidelity many years before and the sudden appearance of a daughter, who, ultimately, is accepted into the fold. I also loved the performances of Liz and Yvonne. Liz cannot accept a proposal of marriage from Ally, who ultimately signs up again. Liz and Yvonne, despite the recent difficult military experiences of their men, have to look after their own lives and feelings. All of the issues were explored beautifully and with sensitivity when required. 

In a nod to that famous Scottish play by Shakespeare, the director introduced 3 “wytches”, local girls who commented on the action and acted as a greek chorus. They helped gel the scenes together and this was a clever move. 

There were no weak links at all in this very strong production. Choreography was kept simple but effective and this aided the staging immensely. 

The 5 piece band was, as usual, off stage right, and created a great sound. This MD always works the cast hard and the singing was the best I have heard from this company. 

Sound and Lighting were first rate. One usually only notices these components if they are poor. There was nothing amiss here. 

I think you can tell from this review that I loved this show. It was good to see something I was not familiar with (I haven't even seen the film) and it was good to see the continued journey to ever greater heights by this company.

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