Review: Let the Sunshine

David Williamson’s Let The Sunshine is rich with Boomer relevance. Sea changes, nest eggs, adult children still causing angst, grandchildren issues, the revision and fulfilment of dreams — they’re all here.

Toby (William Zappa) and Ros (Georgie Parker) have left Sydney to start afresh in Noosa, following a scandal involving Toby’s work as an often controversial documentary maker. Both with a foot still firmly in the Age of Aquarius, they find it difficult to reconcile the formerly quaint fishing village of Toby’s youthful reminiscences with the upmarket tourist mecca it has become.

Ron (Andrew McFarlane) and Natasha (Kate Raison) have also settled here — largely because Ron is busily developing as much of the land as he can acquire. Rich, privileged and opinionated, they embrace their lifestyle with gusto.

Ros and Natasha share a single commonality — a period at the same school, but not in the same grade. Toby and Ron share — well, they’re both male, and that’s about it.

It’s Toby’s 60th birthday and Ros desperately wants to celebrate. With few acquaintances in their adopted home, they are left with the choice of Ron and Natasha. To help dilute the strain, both couples invite their adult children along — Rick, struggling musician and son of Ros, and Emma, uber-lawyer and daughter of Natasha.

Rick and Emma are just as opposite in their views as their parents — or are they?

While the first act sets up the interactions and characters with speed and hilarity, the second act deals with the fallout as Rick (Justin Stewart Cotta) and Emma (Emma Jackson) begin a relationship that will force the two families to confront their differences, reevaluate their beliefs and dreams, and discover some uneasy truths.

The idea of two families with conflicting views on life being thrown together through circumstance is not new — but Let The Sunshine manages to make this scenario fresh and funny, bringing in such current issues as our carbon footprint, the global financial crisis and overdevelopment.

Williamson, as usual, expertly captures the personas of his characters. He punctuates their interactions with skilfully timed wisecracks, local references (even Ascham gets a quick serve!) and sharp observations on a cross-section of Australian society.

A minor concern was the apparent speed in which Rick’s and Emma’s alter-egos developed. As the second act jumps time periods more quickly than the first, it did feel at times like their characters had made quantum leaps in personality.

Director Sandra Bates has assembled a universally strong cast who interact in a fully believable manner. William Zappa’s gruff, zealous Toby is a delight to watch, and Kate Raison’s Natasha beautifully blends the vacuous society woman with her passionate love for her daughter.

Emma Jackson is perhaps the standout, however. She crackles with nervy energy as the hard-nosed, upwardly mobile lawyer frantically suppressing her secret dreams to gain her father’s approval, and tackles the issues around her parents and in-laws with determination and compassion.

Williamson often provides his audience with a ‘mirror’ in which to view their lives.

Let The Sunshine warmly allows us to reflect on who we are, what’s important, and even gives us a laugh or twenty at our own expense.

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