The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Show spreads a little sunshine
Profound family saga celebrating the songs of the Proclaimers is revived by West Yorkshire Playhouse and returns to Dundee Rep Theatre, June 11 to 16, where it all began 11 years ago
“Times have changed since 2007,” says playwright Stephen Greenhorn, who wrote the book for the unexpected hit musical Sunshine on Leith, which debuted as a production of the Dundee Rep Theatre’s company in that year, and which has since gone on to nationaltouring repertory success and a hit film version – also written by Greenhorn – in 2013. This year, for the first time since the film, the Edinburghset family-saga-with-songs is back with a major touring production courtesy of West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds.
Greenhorn says: “Every time I’ve come to do a new production I’ve had to look at the opening scene where the guys walk down Leith Walk and change all the pubs and shops I’ve listed. Since the first version of the show, at least half of the ones I mentioned don’t exist anymore.”
It’s a musical which has grown with its audiences and its creator. When new, Greenhorn identified with homecoming squaddies Ally and Davey, and their partners Liz and Yvonne. Now he relates more to Davy and Liz’s parents Rab and Jean. Although the show was revived by Dundee Rep and has been staged in hundreds of amateur productions, Greenhorn says the film’s success “kicked the doors open” in terms of being able to take it to an English theatre. Current director and West Yorkshire Playhouse artistic director James Brining filled both roles at Dundee Rep 11 years ago.
The beauty of the long life Sunshine on Leith has enjoyed onstage, Greenhorn says, is that it can change and grow as time passes and he gets to add rewrites every time it returns,
meaning that this new version can refer to Brexit and being in a post-indyref world. The main thing he needs to do to bring the show up to date is make sure that the jokes still work.
It was originally billed as a jukebox musical celebrating the songs of the Proclaimers, Auchtermuchty-born twins Craig and Charlie Reid. They had mainstream hits in the 1980s and have enjoyed continuing international success thanks to the popularity of their song I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles). The reason Sunshine on Leith works is because it tells far deeper human stories than just gathering a few easy reasons to throw the Reids’ songs together.
Or rather, for anyone who knows their work, it takes the profound social and political elements of the Proclaimers’ work and crafts a working class story from it. The pair’s best lyrics tap into
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The pair’s best lyrics tap into much of what it is to be Scottish
much of what it is to be Scottish, with our history of often unwilling migration, our men who find it hard to express their feelings and the women who end up martyring themselves for them; the way we love a good party a bit too much, and our relationship with the English, Sunshine on Leith puts all of this onstage.
Greenhorn’s writing includes the play Passing Places (also recently seen again at the Rep) and episodes of the revived series of Doctor Who, but surely Sunshine on Leith must have been the most significant work of his career so far? “It’s turned out to be that,” he laughs, “but it was just a weird experiment at first, a crazy drunken idea that James and I had before he even went to Dundee Rep, about how a big, Broadway-style Scottish musical might happen. It wasn’t until we got to Dundee and experimented with taking the songs away from Craig and Charlie’s voices that we realised, yes, this could work.
“It was designed as a good night out, but everything clicked and the Proclaimers returned with a great new album and got to number one with their Comic Relief single. I think Sunshine on Leith helped emphasise the real breadth and quality of their work as songwriters. It’s evolved a lot since then, of course, and I think this version is even better than the original.”
www.dundeerep.co.uk