Brighton Theatre Royal Review: Sunny Afternoon–The Kinks Musical
Summary
Rating: ★★★★★
Running Dates: Wednesday 17th December 2025 - Saturday 3rd January 2026
Where to see it: Brighton Theatre Royal
Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes incl. interval
Keywords: theatre, 60s, music
Photography by Manuel Harlan
The jukebox musical Sunny Afternoon is a sixties sensation that explores the story of friendship and fame behind The Kinks, a band that changed rock music forever.
Directed by Edward Hall, Sunny Afternoon’s opening night at Brighton’s Theatre Royal brought a host of demographics together, old and young alike. The lovely lady next to me asked “Are you enjoying it? You’re very young!” It was interesting to see the band's enduring audience: the older generations who felt such a connection to the music which soundtracked their lives, and the younger one, who potentially only properly discovered The Kinks through this musical.
Joe Penhall wrote the book alongside Ray Davies, the lead singer. The musical centres around the Davies brothers, and explores themes such as family, wealth disparity, fame, and loss. Each member of the band experiences their own crisis: Ray Davies is depressed, Dave Davies is burnt out, Mick threatens to leave the band. They all eventually come together, rebuilding bridges, illustrated through the slow building of drum riffs, acoustics, and the layers of the songs. The writers used the play's storyline to create contextual humour, relatable and comedic thanks to the constant comparison to The Who, the band’s rivals
Photography by Manuel Harlan
There were a plethora of unforgettable hits but my favourite musical number was ‘You really got me now’, their first number one song that charted in 1964, in which the backup dancers wore white and black mini dresses with go-go boots. The older lady next to me once again told me that she used to have a dress just like this that she loved.
‘Sunny Afternoon’ was the best song of the show, it captivated the audience throughout and ended with a shower of confetti, as well as commentary of England winning the Wold Cup 1966. The final number, ‘Waterloo Sunset’ ends on a joyful and happy beat and is followed by the encore that had everyone standing, dancing to ‘Lola’ before transitioning into a mash-up of the band’s best hits.
Throughout the musical the audience had to bite their tongue in a sometimes failing attempt to not sing along with the cast. In a less theatre appropriate manner, two men in front of me had their hands in the air and shouted praise towards the cast. They were taken back to their youth as the pair acted as though the real Kinks were performing in front of them. This fit the set which consisted of all three walls covered in speakers, and the band's drums, guitars, and microphones remaining present in every scene.
Overall the performance was exceptional, everyone was of the highest quality and was only amplified by the multi-talented cast, who weren’t just actors but also singers, dancers, and musicians. I’d recommend it to anyone, whether you are familiar with The Kinks discography or not, the show is sure to leave a mark on you, and it will be a night to remember.
See If: you want to experience some good ol’ 60s nostalgia
Stand Out Moments: Seeing Dave Davies (Oliver Hoare) swinging from a chandelier, spraying the audience with champagne
Last Impressions: an amazing show enjoyable for people of all ages
To get tickets for the show click here.
We were kindly gifted these tickets in exchange for a review.
Written by Isabel Meszaros