REVIEW: Elgin Musical Theatre’s production of Sunshine on Leith a 'treat' for Moray audiences
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Review by Lindsay Knight
IF you were one of the over 2000 people who managed to secure a ticket for Elgin Musical Theatre’s production of Sunshine on Leith presented in Elgin Town Hall last week, you have no doubt been telling lots of friends and family about the treat you experienced.
Written by Stephen Greenhorn of Dundee Rep, and featuring songs by The Proclaimers, the appeal of Sunshine on Leith to a Scottish audience was already assured, but it takes more than that to produce entertainment.
Sunshine on Leith follows the highs and lows of Ally and his friend Davy, ex-squaddies, as they search for normality after returning from a tour in Afghanistan. Families, friendships and life are not all plain sailing in this funny and moving story about love and life.
Ally's marriage proposal is rejected by his childhood sweetheart, a nurse disillusioned with the part-privatised NHS, who, like so many Scots before her, moves abroad in search of career fulfilment, in her case Florida.
Davy gets a job in a call centre and realises that in love we don’t know if it will all work out, we just need to be ready to take the chance, even if it might mean moving to England!
Meanwhile his parents war over the discovery, years on, of his father's infidelity but acknowledge that part of the joy of parenthood is to allow your children to go and live their life despite the pain that might cause.
The young direction team - Callum Mcleod (Director), Angus Lawson (Musical Director) and Zoe Hershaw (Choreographer) – showed considerable skill in getting the most from their cast.
Enthusiasm was apparent in acting, singing and dancing and you could sense the whole team were enjoying working with each other and performing to their best. We look forward to more productions by this team in the future.
The set framed the stage neatly and featured Edinburgh landmarks recognisable by all. It created a place for the band behind the acting which meant the main action was brought forward closer to the audience.
This was further enhanced by a thrust out into the auditorium which mean the audience could feel really involved in the action – almost as if you were walking down Leith Walk and observing the everyday lives of the locals.
The six main principals – Ally (Garry Collins), Davy (Gregor Lawson), Rab (Sandy Duncan), Jean (Lesley Mitchell), Liz (Natalie Munro) and Yvonne (Amy Lowe) – were excellently cast, working together at all times, to give realistic, well-rounded characters who we could believe really were a group of Leith family and friends.
The balance in this team in acting and singing was impressive. Annabelle Lock, playing the role Eilidh, the result of Rab’s infidelity, gave a sensitive performance balancing the grief of losing her mother with a need to understand her background by meeting her father.
The nature of the show meant there were lots of opportunities for cameo roles.
Notable roles included the bar-woman (Jessica Stuart), Training Instructor (Alison Miller), Innes/Wedding Singer (Mike Duncan) and Busker (Grant Dobson), but every one of the supporting cast created believable characters, whether it was a ned in the supermarket, a lady at the bus stop, a member of the hospital staff, or a Scottish Parliament cleaner.
Also worthy of mention were the young dancers from Zodiac Performing Arts who gave a real glitz to Should have Been Loved set in the Scottish Parliament.
Underpinning the whole show was the music provided Angus Lawson and his band consisting of Anya McRae, Eilidh Welsh, Kirstin Mustard, Tom Morris, Alan Mackenzie, Callum Ord and Clair Munro. Tight and controlled at all times, they helped set the feeling for the scene and never over-powered the singing.
The stage crew worked efficiently with single scenery items being wheeled on and off quickly to create the various scenes – a Leith family kitchen, bar, hospital locker room and hospital side ward – which meant the action hardly paused.
Given the space around Elgin Town Hall stage this would not have been the simplest of tasks so well done to Peter Mutch and his team.
Sound and Lighting were in the expert hands of Granite City Events and those in the balcony seats got the full benefit of the lighting effects they could produce.
Productions of this quality don’t just happen. Months of pre-planning, followed by months of rehearsal are necessary when people are doing this in an amateur capacity.
Callum and Angus, along with all the members of Elgin Musical theatre are worthy of congratulations for the quality of the show they provided to entertain Elgin audiences.
