“Dinnae be a fucking girl”, is the mantra of Nicky McCreadie, the policewoman protagonist of Alright Sunshine, and also most girls. Don’t let them see you cry, don’t get emotional — don’t even let them know you’re a girl. The ‘them’ in Alright Sunshine are, broadly speaking, men. Nicky’s father, also a police officer, who constantly berated her for her Being A Girl (e.g., showing sentience); Nicky’s partner, throwing lasagne at her face (totally acceptable, of course, only a laugh really); her fellow police officers (bantering, joking, WhatsApp-grouping).
Alright Sunshine is a wondrous solo performance by Molly Geddes, performing a sharp and searing monologue from Edinburgh playwright Isla Cowan. The tension builds and builds, as Geddes throws out a hyperlocal witty aside after witty aside in the meantime: about Middle Meadow Walk Sainsbury’s, or Morningside mums, or the ferret man. She’s funny and she’s clearly suppressing something, as her laughter escapes strained and nervous.
“One glimpse of sun, and the whole social order collapses”, she says, referencing the 17 degree celsius plus induced mania of the Meadows — Alright Sunshine’s initial script of lovely Edinburgh-centric observational comedy suddenly delves into something much darker. This is the genius of the play: you’re reeled in with the humour, but you’re never quite able to relax whilst watching Geddes’ ridiculously intense performance. She glares into the audience, eyes alight with anger or anxiety or desperation or all three.
Alright Sunshine finishes how it does not begin, with seriousness and solemnity. We witness Nicky finally unraveling, abstract lines packing so much power: “they [the police] said they didn’t have the manpower”. All her jokes about the lads in the WhatsApp chat, the medicinal Greggs pastries, the quibbles with her partner: they all come rushing back with immense weight and magnitude. Alright Sunshine is a potent and powerful play, with a deeply depressing conclusion. Sensational!
Image courtesy of Serden Salih, provided to The Student to use as press material.