Review: Let The Sun Shine! at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester

“…outstanding performances, immaculate staging… a story with real heart at its centre…”

Let The Sun Shine! by Helen Redcliffe, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester

By Melissa Molloy

I’ve seen a few shows at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre over the years, but Let the Sun Shine might just be the one I keep coming back to in my head. It is phenomenal, plain and simple – the kind of show where the acting, the stage design, the music and the costumes all lock together so completely that you just get swept up in the whole thing. It made for an absolutely unforgettable night.

The story drops us into the ’60s, where a music festival forces its way into the quietest village imaginable, all in the name of saving George’s farm, and nothing is ever quite the same again. At the centre of it all is Harry, a small-town dreamer who wants to explore life and find out who he is. Around him swirls a whole cast of festival-goers and villagers, each pulling him in a different direction, and what could easily have been a fairly simple coming-of-age story becomes something much richer: a night about friendship, first love, and finally finding your own voice.

What I can’t shout enough about is just how talented this cast is. These actors were not simply hitting their lines and moving on – they were acting, singing and playing a whole variety of instruments, often all within the same scene, and doing every single part of it perfectly. They were having as much fun as the audience. Watching someone deliver an emotional dialogue and then pick up a guitar without so much as a beat dropped is genuinely a joy to witness and again, a testament to the skill and practice of this whole cast.

The scene changes deserve their own mention too. So often this is the part of a production that quietly lets the side down, especially in the non-traditional setting of an outdoor amphitheatre. Not here. The transitions in Let the Sun Shine were beautifully done, handled with such confidence and fluidity that they became part of the storytelling rather than an interruption to it. I honestly don’t think I can remember a production getting this side of things closer to perfection.

Then there’s the costume design. Everything felt eclectic and wonderfully of its era, with tie-dye, fringing and flashes of psychedelic colour, all wonderfully ’60s in exactly the way you want a festival-set show to be. It wasn’t just decoration either. You could read the whole world of the play through what people were wearing. The suited villagers and the flowing ‘hippy’ vibes of the festival ensemble grounded the whole thing without ever feeling like it was trying too hard.

Amid such a strong cast, two performances in particular stayed with me. The first was Sonny, played by Perry Moore, who was entertaining right up until the very last scene. There were a couple of technical hitches along the way on the night but rather than letting them throw the mood off, Moore used them, keeping everything light and finding a few lovely bits of comic relief in the moment. That’s not an easy thing to pull off in front of a live outdoor audience, and it spoke to a real confidence and instinct for comedy that made me warm to Sonny all over again.

The second was Puck, played by Abigail Middleton, and this was the performance that genuinely left me a little spellbound. Puck doesn’t speak a word throughout the whole show, and yet Middleton captivated the audience completely without needing a single line. A few small finger gestures and tinging of the little cymbals attached to her fingers here, a haunting dance movement there, and suddenly the whole park felt like it was under her spell. Her ability to command the attention of the entire audience and have them harmonising in the way she did was just unbelievable. There is something quite remarkable about watching an actor hold an audience’s attention that fully through movement and expression alone. It was eerie, beautiful, and one of the moments of the night I keep thinking back to.

Singling out Sonny and Puck isn’t meant to overshadow anyone else on that stage. The truth is the acting from the entire cast was outstanding across the board, about as close to perfection as you’re likely to see. There wasn’t a single performer who felt like they were coasting or filling space. Every one of them earned their place in this production.

By the time the sun had gone down, literally, and the final number was being belted out, I was fully won over. Let the Sun Shine brings together outstanding performances, immaculate staging, gorgeous costume work and live music that never once falters, all wrapped around a story with real heart at its centre. If you get the chance to see it at Grosvenor Park this summer, take it. I don’t think you’ll come away disappointed.

Let The Sun Shine! plays at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester until Sunday 23 August. Tickets are available here.

Melissa Molloy is currently masquerading as a special needs teacher, having previously spent 10 years teaching English, media studies and drama. In her spare time, she offers editorial reviews, beta-reads and guidance to new authors who wish to self-publish their writing. In lieu of sleeping, Melissa often finds herself with her head buried in her laptop – slowly writing her first novel. When she isn’t drowning in work, Melissa can be found paddleboarding and kayaking in local lakes, usually accompanied by at least one or two of her four children.