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With Music and Lyrics by Ray Davies, Book by Joe Penhall and Direction by Edward Hall, SUNNY AFTERNOON depicts the rise to stardom of The Kinks. Set against the back-drop of a Britain caught mid-swing between the conservative 50s and riotous 60s, this production explores the euphoric highs and agonising lows of one of Britain’s most iconic bands and the irresistible music that influenced generations.
WINNER OF FOUR 2015 OLIVIER AWARDS including:
BEST NEW MUSICAL
Developed over the course of four years, and spearheaded by music legend Ray Davies, Australian born Joe Penhall and West End impresario Sonia Friedman, the electrifying new musical SUNNY AFTERNOON premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 2014. Based on the music of The Kinks, the production quickly sold out its strictly limited run and was transferred directly to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End by Sonia Friedman Productions.
SUNNY AFTERNOON ran in the West End for two years to great critical acclaim, playing to over 430,000 people. The production then toured across the UK and Ireland from 2016-2017, visiting 34 cities over nine months and playing to a further 300,000 people.
Lauded by the critics and loved by audiences, the show has earned four Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music for Ray Davies, during its spectacular life.
REVIEWS
“A Blazing Triumph. I Swear You’ll Get Goosebumps.”
- The TELEGRAPH
“Stormingly Successful.
I Defy Anyone to Resist It”
- FINANCIAL TIMES
“Triumphant. Show Stopping, Magic.”
“A belter! Funny, stylish, well-performed,
quirky – it has everything The Kinks had”
-DAILY MAIL
“ A Golden triumph”
-THE OBSERVER
“Fresh and full of zingy, swinging sixties excitement.”
-SUNDAY EXPRESS
“Kick-Ass. Indisputably Terrific.”
- The TIMES
“Pretty irresistible”
- MAIL ON SUNDAY
-THE SUNDAY TIMES
“A Dazzling Production.”
-THE GUARDIAN
“Utterly Joyous”
-EVENING STANDARD
-INDEPENDENT
PHOTOS
CREATIVE TEAM
Ray Davies - MUSIC & LYRICS AND ORIGINAL STORY
Ray Davies CBE, one of the most successful and influential songwriters to emerge from the British Invasion of the 1960s, founded the rock band The Kinks with his brother Dave in London in 1964. The band’s string of 14 top ten international hits began with You Really Got Me, followed by All Day and All of The Night, Tired of Waiting, Set Me Free, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Sunny Afternoon, Waterloo Sunset, Lola, Apeman and Come Dancing among many others.
Davies has released two solo albums, a choral collection of Kinks classics and his recent collaborations album See My Friends which saw him return again to the top ten, working with the likes of Metallica, Bruce Springsteen and Mumford and Sons.
Davies collaborated with Barrie Keeffe in 1981 on his first stage musical, Chorus Girls, and in 1988 wrote 80 Days with Snoo Wilson, which was produced at the La Jolla Playhouse. He returned with his third musical, Come Dancing, in 2008 at Stratford East which won the WhatsOnStage Best Off-West End Musical award. In between the musicals Ray penned his unauthorized autobiography, X-Ray, from which he featured readings during his Storyteller tour.
August 2012 saw Davies perform at the London Olympics followed by his most successful solo tour to date. Ray returned in 2013 with his second autobiography, Americana, focusing on his time spent in the United States which the band first conquered in 1965 but from which they were banned shortly after by the Musicians’ Union until 1969. It takes the story through to the band’s second wave of success in the 1980s and up through Ray’s shooting by a mugger in New Orleans at the beginning of 2004.
JOE PENHALL - BOOK
Screenwriter and playwright Joe Penhall grew up in Australia and these days he divides his time between London, Los Angeles and Melbourne, working in film, theatre and TV.
Joe Penhall's plays include Birthday (Royal Court, 2012); Haunted Child (Royal Court, 2011); Landscape with Weapon (National Theatre, 2007); Dumb Show (Royal Court, 2004); Blue/Orange (National Theatre, 2000), winner of the Evening Standard Best Play Award, the Olivier Award for Best New Play and the Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play; The Bullet (Donmar, 1998); Love and Understanding (Bush, 1997); Pale Horse (Royal Court, 1995), which won the Thames Television Best Play Award and Some Voices (Royal Court, 1994) which won him the John Whiting Award in 1995.
His film and television work includes his adaptation of The Road from Cormac McCarthy’s award-winning novel which premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival 2009; the screenplay Enduring Love (2004) based on the novel by Ian McEwan; the feature adaptation of his play Some Voices for Film Four; Moses Jones, a three part detective drama for BBC2, winner of Best Screenplay at the Roma Fiction Festival 2009 and the BAFTA- nominated The Long Firm for BBC2.
EDWARD HALL - DIRECTOR
Artistic Director Carl and Marilynn Thoma Chair
AAcclaimed theater, television, and film director Edward Hall joined the Tony Award-winning Chicago Shakespeare Theater in October 2023 as Artistic Director, Carl and Marilynn Thoma Chair. In February 2024, he directed his debut production as Artistic Director—Richard III starring Tony nominee and Paralympic champion Katy Sullivan. He previously directed the Rose Rage trilogy of Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, and 3 at Chicago Shakespeare in 2003, garnering significant critical acclaim and the Jeff Award for Best Direction. This epic theatrical event went on to play the Duke on 42nd Street, marking Chicago Shakespeare’s off-Broadway and NYC debut.
Son of British theater legend and Royal Shakespeare Company founder Sir Peter Hall, Edward Hall has built his love of Shakespeare around original interpretations of the Bard’s plays, making this a central focus of his own career. In 1997, he founded the ensemble-based Propeller Theatre Company, performing Shakespeare’s plays in London’s West End and on tour to Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the United States, and beyond. He has directed Julius Caesar, Henry V, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona for the Royal Shakespeare Company; and his production of The Taming of the Shrew was included as part of the RSC’s Complete Works Festival in 2006/07. The New York Times Magazine raved of his career, “what Edward Hall seems to do is work at the cellular level, cracking the DNA code of the text and replicating it onstage.”
Hall led London’s Hampstead Theatre for nearly a decade as Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive, where he was known for ground-breaking work, including the Olivier Award-winning Sunny Afternoon, Chariots of Fire, The Judas Kiss, and Ecstasy—all of which transferred to the West End. In 2019, he staged the UK premiere of the Pulitzer prize-winning Cost of Living, starring Adrian Lester and Katy Sullivan. Following his appointment to Hampstead Theatre in 2010, Hall took the company from the brink of bankruptcy through a dramatic transformation into one of the nation’s most successful theaters for new work development—producing over 100 world premieres. While at Hampstead, he championed wider accessibility in the theater industry: he launched the Downstairs incubator space for early career playwrights, rolled out discount ticket programs, young writers’ programs, and as far back as 2013 began innovating with “freestreaming” on global digital platforms.
His extensive film and television credits include the Sky TV holiday film The Heist Before Christmas, starring Timothy Spall as Father Christmas; Blithe Spirit starring Dame Judi Dench, Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher, and Leslie Mann; as well as Gentleman Jack; Restless starring Hayley Atwell and Charlotte Rampling; Partners in Crime;The Durrells; and the season finale for series 4 of the resoundingly successful Downton Abbey.
He is a member of The Arts Club of Chicago.
MIRIAM BUETHER - DESIGNER
Trained in costume design at Akademie für Kostüm Design in Hamburg and in theatre design at Central Saint Martin’s, London.
Design work for theatre and dance includes The Effect, Earthquakes in London (National Theatre – Olivier Award nomination); Chariots of Fire (Hampstead Theatre / Gielgud); Decade (Headlong); Public Enemy, Wild Swans (Critics’ Circle Award and Olivier Award nominations, Evening Standard Award), The Government Inspector, In the Red and Brown Water, The Good Soul of Szechuan, Generations (Young Vic); In The Republic of Happiness, Love and Information, Get Santa!, Sucker Punch (Evening Standard Award), Cock, My Child (Royal Court); Judgement Day, When the Rain Stops Falling (Almeida); King Lear (New York); Six Characters in Search of an Author (Chichester Festival Theatre / Gielgud); Everybody Loves a Winner (Manchester International Festival); The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Edinburgh International Festival / Royal Court – Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland); Red Demon (Young Vic / Japan); The Bee (Soho / Japan); Trade (RSC at Soho Theatre); Tenderhooks (Canadian National Ballet) and Guantanamo: ‘Honor Bound to Defend Freedom’ (Tricycle / West End / New York / San Francisco).
Opera work includes Il Trittico - Suor Angelica (ROH); Anna Nicole (New York / ROH); Carmen (Salzburg Festival); Turandot (ENO); The Death of Klinghoffer (Edinburgh Festival / Scottish Opera).
ADAM COOPER - CHOREOGRAPHER
Trained at the Arts Educational School and The Royal Ballet School, Adam joined The Royal Ballet in 1989 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1994. Since 1997 Adam has been a freelance artist performing, choreographing and directing all over the world.
Adam recently starred in Singin‘ in the Rain at the Palace Theatre, London and Chichester. He also created the role of The Swan/Stranger in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake which he has performed all over the world and for which he has won numerous awards. He appeared as older Billy in the film Billy Elliot.
His recent choreography includes Evita (Det Ny Teater, Copenhagen); Candide (Menier Chocolate Factory); Shall We Dance (Sadler’s Wells, also directed); Roberto Devereux (Opera Holland Park); Simply Cinderella (Curve Leicester, also directed); Carousel (Savoy Theatre and UK Tour, WhatsOnStage Award nomination); Side by Side by Sondheim (The Venue); Promises, Promises (Sheffield Crucible); Wallflowering (Sevenoaks Playhouse); Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Japan / Sadler’s Wells, also directed); Grand Hotel (Donmar, Olivier Award nomination); Singin’ in the Rain (Sadler’s Wells / Leicester Haymarket – Critics’ Circle Dance Award nomination); On Your Toes (Leicester Haymarket / Royal Festival Hall / Japan – Critics’ Circle Dance Award winner); Garbo the Musical (Stockholm) and Six Faces (K Ballet Japan).
RICK FISHER - LIGHTING DESIGNER
Born in Philadelphia, Rick Fisher was winner of two Olivier Awards for Best Lighting Design and two Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Billy Elliot and An Inspector Calls.
Theatre work includes Drawing the Line, Raving, Old Money, 55 Days, The Judas Kiss, Chariots of Fire, Farewell to the Theatre, No Naughty Bits, Tiger Country, The Fastest Clock in the Universe, Anna in the Tropics (Hampstead); Great Expectations (Bristol Old Vic); The Herd (Bush); Inside Wagner’s Head (Linbury ROH); The Audience (Gielgud); Galileo, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice (RSC, Stratford); Sweeney Todd (Châtelet, Paris); The Sound of Music (Buenos Aires); Tribes (Royal Court); Billy Elliot (West End / Australia / Broadway / US Tours); An Inspector Calls (West End / Broadway); Othello (Singapore); The Family Reunion, Betrayal (Donmar); Landscape With Weapon (National Theatre); Jerry Springer – The Opera; Blue/Orange (National Theatre / West End); Far Away (New York) and A Number (Royal Court).
Recent opera work includes Falstaff (Los Angeles); Heart of Darkness (Linbury, ROH); Oscar, The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (Santa Fe Opera); Turandot (ENO); Wozzeck and The Tsarina’s Slippers (Royal Opera House).
Dance work includes Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake (London / Los Angeles / Broadway / World Tour)
MATT MCKENZIE - SOUND DESIGNER
Born in New Zealand, he was at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith before joining Autograph in 1984.
He was Sound Supervisor for The Peter Hall Seasons 1997 - 1998 (Old Vic / Piccadilly) and Sound Associate for Chichester Festival Theatre 2007-2012.
Previous theatre includes In The Vale of Health, Three Sisters on Hope Street, The Giant, Enlightenment, No Naughty Bits, Beasts and Beauties and Raving (Hampstead); Putting it Together, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Carousel, Funny Girl, The Music Man, Oklahoma, She Loves Me (Chichester Festival Theatre); Oh What a Lovely War, Sweeney Todd, Company, Into The Woods, Merrily We Roll Along (Derby Playhouse); The House of Bernarda Alba, Journey's End; Forbidden Broadway, Blues in the Night, Tango Argentino, Misery, Lysistrata, The Master Builder, A Streetcar Named Desire, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Macbeth, A Life in the Theatre, Nicholas Nickleby, Three Days of Rain, Singin' in the Rain, Relatively Speaking (West End); Family Reunion, Henry V, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC); Amadeus and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Broadway).
