Originally made in Dundee but with its heart in Edinburgh, the Proclaimers musical Sunshine on Leith makes a welcome return.
It’s the big opening show of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s summer season, and also a co-production with Edinburgh’s Capital Theatres.
Quick season at the King’s
After early performances in Pitlochry, it’s holding a two-week residency at the King’s in Edinburgh, the theatre’s final show before it closes for refurbishment.
Then it’s back to Pitlochry for the summer, marking a return to indoor theatre after the pandemic.
To everyone who’s seen the 2013 film or Dundee Rep’s breakout 2007 touring hit, the story will be familiar.
Backed by the Proclaimers’ music and perfect narrative lyrics, one Edinburgh family navigates love, mortality, a long-buried secret and life in modern Scotland.
The story of Sunshine
Keith Jack and Connor Going are young soldiers Ally and Davy, back from the Army and home in Edinburgh.
They soak up the romance of the city to Sky Takes the Soul and feel freedom at last with I’m On My Way.
Davy’s sister Liz (Blythe Jandoo) is in a relationship with Ally, but she wants more than to just settle down.
Meanwhile, Davy meets Liz’s workmate Yvonne, an English nurse who fears commitment after too many bad relationships.
Always a crowd pleaser
Davy and Liz’s parents Jean (Alyson Orr) and Rab (Keith Macpherson) have been happily married for 30 years, until he’s made to confront the results of a decades-old affair.
The couple’s emotions run from the bitterness of Hate My Love to the reconciliation of Sunshine on Leith – always a crowd-pleasing song with an Edinburgh audience.
Under Adrian Rees’ twinkling model panorama of Edinburgh, the band of actor-musicians create an entertaining show, a gift to any stage company thanks to the Reid brothers’ songs and writer Stephen Greenhorn’s affecting drama.
For anyone who has missed or never experienced Sunshine on Leith, Pitlochry’s production is a winner, and the closing Letter from America and I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) are as affecting an onstage moment as you’ll see this year.
Yet the Dundee original, like the Proclaimers’ songs, had an edge of real grit at its core. This light-hearted version is good, but not the equal of the original.
Sunshine on Leith returns to Pitlochry Festival Theatre on Friday June 24 and runs until Saturday October 1. pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com
Conversation