Sunny Afternoon

A fabulous night of theatre “Really Got Me” as the hip swaying Sunny Afternoon’s musical burst onto the stage at The King’s Theatre in Glasgow.

The catchy tune “You Really Got Me” helped bring fame and fortune in the early 1960s for The Kinks and a stage production of the band’s life is on a revival tour of the UK.

First shown in 2014, the story of the popular band saw a West End run and was due a tour in 2020, only for the Covid lockdown to lead to its cancellation.

Five years later and the musical is bigger and brighter, but full of the same enthusiasm and energy which had a packed audience joining in the fun and helped by sponsorship from the local Glaswegian drinks company.

Telling the story of working class lads from Muswell Hill in London, caught up in all the excesses of the 60s, it is set against a background of social and political change, The Kinks were never as famous as The Beatles or The Who, but played a big part in musical change.

The main man, Ray Davies was credited at the time for his classy and stylish lyrics and his raw singing as well as some timeless classic guitar playing.

In the musical, his role is played by Danny Horn, who is impressive, clearly investing much energy and vibe.

Oliver Hoare as Ray’s brother Dave is equally as good and the duo bounce off each other as they try to negotiate their way from their “normal” life to super fame and all the ups and downs on the way.

The story takes the boys and their sidekicks, Pete Quaife (Harry Curley) and Mick Avory (Zakarie Stokes) to America, where they find the music world is more interested in how much it can take from the boys financially, than their tunes and inevitably, bitterness creeps in.

A lovely acapella rendition of “Thank You For The Days” was magical and there was some cheeky booing from the Scottish crowd to “Sunny Afternoon” set against the England football team winning the 1966 World Cup.

Special shout out for Lisa Wright as Ray’s formidable wife Rasa, played with aplomb and with a lovely singing voice.

The cast is also made up of Gwen (Victoria Anderson), Eddie Kassner (Ben Caplan), Gregory Piven (James Chisholm), Mr Davies (Phil Corbitt), Larry Page (Alasdair Craig), Mrs Davies (Deryn Edwards), Joyce (Jada Langley), Robert Wace (Joseph Richardson), Peggy (Emily Whitby-Samways) and Grenville Collins (Tam Williams).

Directed by Edward Hall and with a wonderful musical accompaniment led by Michael Cullen, the show is big, bold and bouncy and guaranteed to make you smile!

Sunny Afternoon runs at The King’s Theatre in Glasgow until Saturday, 1^st November, before moving to Sunderland from 4^th to 8^th November, York, 11^th to 15^th November, Woking, 18^th to 22^nd November, Wimbledon, 25^th to 29^th November, Swansea, 2^nd to 6^th December, Brighton, 17^th December 2025 to 3^rd January 2026.

It then heads to London from 15^th to 31^st January, Canterbury, 3^rd to 7^th February, Oxford, 10^th to 14^th February, Nottingham, 17^th to 21^st February, Leeds, 24^th to 28^th February, Malvern, 3^rd to 7^th March, Torquay, 17^th to 21^st March, Milton Keynes, 24^th to 28^th March, Richmond, 31^st March to 4^th April, Stoke-on-Trent, 7^th to 11^th April, Stockton-on-Tees, 14^th to 18^th April, Leicester, 21^st to 25^th April, Blackpool, 28^th April to 2^nd May, Edinburgh, 5^th to 9^th May, Inverness, 12^th to 16^th May, Liverpool, 19^th to 23^rd May and rounds off the tour in Cardiff from 26^th to 30^th May 2026.

For ticket availability, please visit: www.atgtickets.com and www.musicalsontour.co.uk.

Author Bio:

Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.

Photographs by Manuel Harlan