Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 7th March 2026

Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau

5*****

A Kinks musical, from the West End, at the incomparable Malvern Theatres… I’m all in!

As I shuffled in I could see a band on stage and a most interesting set (from Miriam Buether) – a chandelier, three sides of speakers and a drum set bearing the name The Ravens. I didn’t know The Kinks had formed from the ashes of The Ravens, so the first revelation of the night was in place.  

Alongside my first happy moment – the music was played live on stage, with the actors enhanced by musicians, unobtrusively off to one side. Tucked away they may have been, but essential nonetheless (notably Guitarist Alex Ward)!

The cast were fantastic. Bursting with youthful vigour befitting the era – and that included the older cast members too! Go-go dancers, “crowds” of screaming girls and the like all over the place (frequently spilling off the stage in every direction). It really was boisterous stuff. Apart from the Kinks band, everyone else had multiple roles, so deserve much praise! I wish I had the word-count to name everyone personally.

The Davies brothers were particularly movingly portrayed. Both actors caught the historical figures to a tee – with Danny Horn capturing Ray’s poetic angst and struggles to maintain his original voice, plus battling pressure from all sides. Meanwhile Dave (Oliver Hoare) was the perfect embodiment of sex and drugs… Hoare gave us a joyous and empathetic reading. That I genuinely cared for both brothers is a testament to both actors skill and craft. 

There were some delicious one liners involving Lennon & McCartney and their wives; along the “you wouldn’t find… with his wife”. A very knowing and humorous nod there from the writer – a certain Ray Davies, who gifted us a sparkling script!  

The songs appeared out of chronological order so as to enhance the story. So, don’t be surprised to hear Dead End Street early in the play, sooner than You Really Got Me (despite being released over 2 years later).

There’s enough stuff here to keep even the casual fan interested i.e. the tale of how they achieved the guitar fuzz sound, Top of the Pops, other bands like Beatles and The Who mentioned… And some things never change re fame (teeth and pop stars hiding being married), so lots of juicy social commentary just like the best of The Kinks catalogue. 

The show doesn’t shy away from the hard hitting (literally) elements of the band’s story, so expect to see some on stage violence either side of the interval. Nothing too bad and the placing of I’m Not Like Everybody Else was a masterstroke there!

Speaking of the music, it was all present, correct and wonderful! Days was the emotional highlight with an acapella version to die for. The encore was a rousing concert performance of a couple of favourites to send us home positively giddy. 

A rousing night with pathos, poignancy, classic tunes re-imagined, classic tunes faithful recreated, love, loss… the whole human experience, as you’d expect from England’s musical poet laureate. What can I say – they really had me!