Spectacular staging showcased Starlight's new generation of talent
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REVIEW: Sunshine On Leith
Starlight Musical Theatre
5 stars
It’s been a long time since Starlight Musical Theatre has presented a show, thanks to Covid – but boy, has it been worth the wait.
A stunning production of Sunshine On Leith at Eden Court set a new standard for the company. It showcased a talented new generation – of performers, from principals to chorus – to the creative team behind the scenes.
Add bold, imaginative staging, the ability to mine the emotion of Stephen Greenhorn’s story of a Leith family and friends, and voices and musicians that honoured the genius of The Proclaimers’ funny, poignant and insightful songwriting to power the show.
In the story, army pals Davy and Ally return to Leith from their final tour of duty in Afghanistan, looking for love and the chance to settle down. Davy's mum Jean, dad Rab and sister Liz welcome them home –Davy meets Liz's nurse friend Yvonne and Ally wants to marry Liz. But when Rab discovers he has another daughter, then suffers a heart attack, all three couples find life and love can be challenging.
Three members of the MacAskill family played their part in how this musical came across.
Director Roma’s ambition was clear in many big scenes full of colour and drama, but also attention to detail gave us small moments that offered a laugh or a touching twist. And her direction drew exceptional performances from her lead cast members.
Liam as Davy – in many ways the heart of the whole show – embodied the tough guy with the soft centre and dry humour, looking to make a life in his beloved Leith, even though it’s now “all loft apartments, bistros and Malmaison”.
Niall, as stage manager, balanced the continuing basic challenge of achieving unfussy, speedy set changes to keep the pace buzzing along, with big decisions such as taking the unusual step of placing the musicians under the stage, from where the sound quality was strong, but kept audience focus on the performers.
Inspired casting meant that every principal enhanced the storytelling.
Amanda Luscombe-Smith as the modest mum, cleaner Jean, showed us the pain and fury of discovering husband Rab had a secret daughter, then made Jean’s journey back to love and understanding truly authentic. And she created one of the most moving musical moments of the show in solo number Sunshine On Leith.
Alison Ozog was a ball of restless energy as daughter Liz, turning her back on Ally’s marriage proposal to explore the freedom of “the world” alone as she took a nursing job in Florida.
And in perfect contrast, Matthias Kremer as her smitten suitor and “best pal” Ally, oozed sorrow and devastation at her rejection, nursing his wounds as he rejoined the army, the lines of the show’s last song (I Would Walk) 500 Miles perfectly matching his story, on guard duty thinking of Liz: “When I’m lonely without you … and when I’m dreaming of the time I had with you”.
Amy MacLeod gave an understated but powerful performance making Yvonne, Liz’s nurse friend, click as a natural fit for Davy, with her sense of duty for the job, no-nonsense approach, but sense of fun.
Gerry Sutton playing the family-focused dad and supermarket security guard Rab, brought warmth and a lightness of touch to the role and an impeccable sense of timing to some of the funniest lines in the show.
Telling Davy about his early life goals, he says: “I wanted a decent job, a family and for Hibs to win the league – I’m still only one out of three!”
This updated version of Sunshine On Leith (created originally by Dundee Rep) is set in the recent past and lives in a world we know very well, celebrating Scotland’s history, problems and in-jokes, making it a gift to present to a younger Scottish audience.
Referring to Jean and Rab’s early romance, daughter Liz drily likened it to “Kim and Kanye” with Jean’s feisty response “I was hardly going to drop your dad on the off-chance I met Patrick Swayze!”
Blaming herself for causing her dad’s heart attack, Liz was reminded sharply by Davy not to: “… “He smokes, he drinks, he has a fry-up every morning in life!”
It’s not a perfect Scotland or a perfect life, the show reminds you, feeding off the subjects of the Proclaimers’ own songs.
And Starlight’s biggest moments in the show reflected their own understanding of that.
Alison Ozog as Liz almost broke the fourth wall to speak directly to us as she sang What Do You Do, the character about to walk away from the frustrations of the nursing job she loved as she finally gives up waiting for change for the NHS. It's a real-life continuing story we hear on the news almost every night.
Another big moment was the spectacle of the dancing girls and the magic of sequinning up the tabards of unsung everyday heroines Jean and her cleaner pals in their dance number, Should Have Been Loved.
And the fun of the call centre training day scene took in the Scottish accent inspired by The Proclaimers song Throw The 'R' Away.
Four other big scenes included the busy pub night watching Hibs where the punters helped Ally perfect his wedding proposal for Liz, in Let’s Get Married.
Then the triumph that was Rab and Jean’s anniversary party seamlessly moved from a stageful dancing the Gay Gordons, to a shift into slo-mo leading to its dramatic, emotional and abrupt end. Little comedy cameos enriched it, such as Jean getting tied up in sleeves as she helped a drunk guy get his jacket on and at the end of the scene, the hungover woman discovered and slinking away when the scenery was moved to reveal her presence behind it.
The big party scene was only upstaged by the heartbreakingly moving interpretation of Letter From America as Liz packs for her new job in Florida. Black and white photographs of emigration and historic Scotland, plus our own statue of Flora Macdonald who emigrated to the US for a time, all scene-set on the stage backdrop, as a young girl’s pure voice in Gaelic rang out.
The chorus filled the stage, from a group of women at the front dressed in 19th century Highland costume ‘waulking’ the tweed, to miners behind them, fishermen to their right.
From hardship at the hands of landlords and, as emphasised by the Proclaimers' lyrics, past economic decisions taken by Westminster, emphasised Scotland's story of emigration of the past with today, bringing tears as live bagpipes (Louise Hay MacBean) sealed the deal on the emotional impact.
And the fourth scene?
The adrenalin-pumping opening. Davy and Ally on duty in Afghanistan with a chorus of uniformed soldiers making parade-ground perfect moves to powerful choreography that included brandished guns, at one point trained on the audience, to a soundscape of loud, hovering helicopter with a blinding searchlight raking across the theatre.
It was a beautifully-executed, attention-grabbing way to start a show.
Starlight already have the next one in their sights, as the pandemic-postponed Sound Of Music is coming to Eden Court next August, auditions in January.
