Sunshine on Leith

Billed as “the show you’d walk 500 miles to see” Sunshine on Leith has a feel good factor as well as moments of poignancy which make it one of the better juke box musicals, with the songs of Craig and Charlie Reid, “The Proclaimers”, providing the perfect accompaniment to the story.

The company embraced the content of the musical by supporting the “Help for Heroes” charity leading up to and during the week of performance and the prologue to the show which had members of the cast read out real citations from serving soldiers was very moving and a fitting tribute to this great charity.

As a show which moves from the front line of Afghanistan to various locations across Edinburgh it gives the director a challenge and this challenge was ably met with the action flowing seamlessly with a set which worked well and the use of an excellent lighting plot to support the action. The band were super and having them behind the action worked well in the venue.

Following a powerful opening and the men of the company giving a moving performance of “Sky Takes the Soul”, the story looks at relationships and friendship and in particular the friendship of Davy (Mathew Clarke) and Ally (Daniel Dryden) who attempt to rebuild their lives after leaving the Army. The rapport portrayed between the two friends was tangible as we were led from their camaraderie of the front line to back home. Their girlfriends Yvonne, played by Cara Fowler, and Liz, played by Ashlee Bentham are strong characters throughout the story and these roles were well played with by both girls. Both couples worked well together and there were some lovely moments in particular during “Make My heart Fly” and the later scenes where decisions about their future have to be made.

Davy’s mother and father, Rab and Jean, are great characters and Derek Crooks and Debra Darke relished in their portrayal. Hidden amongst the dry humour of Rab and the day to day routine of life, is a secret which unfolds and puts the strength of his and Jean’s relationship to the test. There were some good scenes of domestic unrest as well as tenderness between the two characters.

The company played many supporting roles with several getting the opportunity to be featured in the ensemble numbers. I particularly enjoyed “Throw the R Away”, “Let’s Get Married”, “Should Have Been Loved” and of course “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)” which had the audience singing along. Congratulations to everyone for your work on the notoriously difficult Scottish accent, you did really well. The perfect finale of course was to include a piper!

Well done everyone

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