Sunny Afternoon At Milton Keynes Theatre Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Sue Rumble
Sunny Afternoon is based on The Kinks story and includes many well-known hits starting in the 60’s including Lola and You Really Got Me. It is a story of friendship, fame and rock & roll.
A lovely large theatre with a few places inside to eat & drink and numerous bars and restaurants nearby. Lots of parking nearby with some free spaces after 6.00 in Central Milton Keynes and a multi-story car park opposite – payable.
Wall to wall incredible music with the emotional story of the Kinks career woven into the show. It tells the story of the boys’ careers starting from the two brothers starting a band with Ray writing the songs from thoughts he had in his head – often about daily life. His love from music started when he was given his 1st guitar on his 13th birthday. The brothers had a volatile relationship often ending in punches being taken. Dave – an amazing guitar player wanted to be the front man which caused him to go off the rails and express himself in different ways – living the complete rock & roll life. Their tour to America in 1965, whilst a success on stage ended in a ban in the US for the next 4 years after confrontations with officials and union people. They did conquer USA later in their career.
The cast were all amazing and many of them took on several roles. Ray Davies – played by Danny Horn showed the raw emotion that he went through during his life including all the ups and downs with his wife Rasa, played by Lisa Wright. Danny’s voice was absolutely amazing with such a range of songs from quiet love songs to ear blasting rock and roll. Oliver Hoare, who played Dave Davies was a brilliant guitar player, singer and gave the audience the bad boy that he was portraying. Drummer Mick Avory was played by Zakarie Stokes – what an amazing drummer with a long solo piece showing off his skills. Harry Curley played the 4th original band member Pete Quaff who felt he was an outsider and didn’t always belong – quit the band at one point for a short period. The rest of the cast including managers, parents and backing singers all did a fantastic job with great singing and dancing. Every cast member showed enthusiasm and got the audience totally involved in the band’s journey. The show finished with a rousing performance on LOLA with everyone joining in.
Congratulations to the whole creative team, production team, costume and everyone involved in the show.
A definite must see show for anyone who likes great music alongside good storytelling and a brilliant cast of musicians/actors
Rating: 5/5
Running – Tues 24th March to Sat 28th March 2026
Price of Tickets – £15 to £36.50
Running Time – 2 hrs 40 minutes including interval
Rating out of – 5 out of 5
Milton Keynes Theatre, 500 Marlborough Gate, Central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. MK9 3NZ
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/sunny-afternoon/milton-keynes-theatre/?