Alright Sunshine

Police Constable Nicky McCreadie has been patrolling Edinburgh’s streets for long enough to know their routines, rhythms and restless energy. And when the sun comes out, she knows that things go a bit crazy. The Meadows are a particular magnet. So when she’s summoned to an incident on the Meadows during a sun-soaked BBQ, she dismisses it initially. Until things spiral out of control.

‘Alright Sunshine’ is a feisty, funny play from Scottish writer Isla Cowan. For Edinburgh folk, the script is full of delightfully canny references to the tribes of people that populate the Meadows though you don’t need to visit the Meadows to know these troublesome throngs. But amidst the frisbees and the Prosecco pops and the BBQ brawls, there’s a stealthy undercurrent of menace, misogyny and violence.

Amply propelled by this zippy, well-constructed script, Molly Geddes gives a stellar performance as the police woman serving her city in the best way she can. She’s frank, composed, perfectly aware of protocol and plenty assertive enough that the cracks, when they show, are all the more heart-breaking. Director Debbie Hannan revels in the bustle and the breezy fun of the script and lets the moments where all bravado deserts Nicky, breathe. Tidy lights (Robbie Butler) and careful sound design (MJ McCarthy) allow the brooding undercurrent creep up on us.

Cowan explores the challenges inherent in working in a high-stress position in ongoing close proximity to savage attacks on women and girls and the effect that this can have on your mental health. Maybe her dad’s partly to blame. Maybe the boys club culture she works in is partly to blame. Maybe generations of men feeling like they’re in control – or ought to be – are to blame. Either way, at the start of the play, Nicky’s facing an interview that will determine her destiny.  By the time we learn why, your sense of right and wrong may be severely compromised.