Review: Let The Sun Shine, Storyhouse in the Park
Words: Paul Crofts
A visit to the glorious open air theatre in Chester’s Grosvenor Park is always a highlight and this year is no exception.
We Are Chester’s Paul Crofts went along to see Let The Sun Shine, a fantastically feel-good show which perfectly captures the spirit of postwar optimism and societal change which swept across Britain in the 1960s.
This Storyhouse Original production, written by Helen Redcliffe and co-directed by Rob Green and Lucy Thatcher, transports the audience to a sleepy English village where traditions have been honoured and a way of life has hardly changed for centuries.
The play centres around greengrocer’s son Harry (Lucas Button) who, driven by his love for the “new-fangled” pop music, starts to believe in a future away from fruit and veg, his domineering father Arthur (David Ahmad) and his outdated attitudes.
When a group of hippies including the enigmatic Cloud (Annabelle Aquino), Sonny (Perry Moore) and Claire (Sorrel Jordan) descend on the village to organise a music festival to help save Farmer George’s farm, Harry seizes the chance to pursue his dreams, much to his father’s disgust and the despair of his mother, Veronica (Rebecca Bainbridge).
As Arthur sees the England of Empire, Hope and Glory fading before his eyes, villager Joan (Kate Milner-Evans) is mourning the loss of a son killed on active service and grabs her chance of a new life with the hippy clan. Will Arthur set out to stop the festival and alienate his son, or will he too see the light?
Let The Sun Shine is very much an ensemble piece but a special mention must go to Perry Moore who played the wonderfully psychedelic Sonny.
Perhaps best described as the lovechild of John Lennon and The Bee Gees (any or all of them), Moore has created the perfectly loveable yet slightly edgy archetypal hippy.
The whole cast are particularly strong and if it hadn’t been for the programme notes, I wouldn’t have guessed that Owen Ellis as the rebellious Bear was a member of Storyhouse’s Young Company of trainee actors. Hopefully we’ll see more of Owen in future productions.
If you are a fan of classic 60s jukebox musicals then Let The Sun Shine will be right up your street, featuring a plethora of feel-good hits including I’ve Got You Babe, The Times They Are A-Changin, Give Peace a Chance, Aquarius, My Generation and of course, the play’s title song.
The music keeps coming, all brilliantly performed live by the multi-talented cast with the audience clapping along and joining in the fun, with some good natured audience participation (let’s not speak of the maypole dancing ever again!).
Rob Green’s musical direction keep things tight and Lucy Thatcher’s choreography sets the tone beautifully.
Set changes are seamless and set dressing and props have been well designed to give the whole show a festival vibe.
Hats off to the costume team who have created a look for each character which sums them up perfectly, from buttoned-up greengrocer Arthur to the flamboyant psychedelia of the hippy clan.
The production team have done a superb job in bringing all the various elements including set, sound, costume, lighting and props together to create a feast for the eyes and the ears.
Talking of costume, it was fab to see several members of the audience embracing the whole festival vibe with their choice of colourful outfits – groovy, man!
As the sun set on a balmy Grosvenor Park, the audience rose to give the cast a well-deserved standing ovation and we headed home with the songs swirling around in our heads and our hearts just a little lighter.
If you’re looking for an evening of pure escapism, then why not give peace a chance and let the sun shine!
We give Let The Sun Shine a psychedelic five stars.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Let The Sun Shine runs at Storyhouse in the Park (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre) until 23 August.
Paul Crofts, July 2026.
We Are Chester 
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