Content Warning – Alright Sunshine includes description of sexual assault.
Alright Sunshine is written by playwright Isla Cowan, and performed by Molly Geddes. It is a one woman play set in Edinburgh, about Nicky McCreadie, who is a police officer working at the Meadows during the summer.
She is working overtime to have a female presenting officer patrolling, to make women feel more comfortable, and to provide a caring, “motherly” illusion. At the start of the show, she is facing an interview surrounding her conduct. The stress, workload and heat seem to be making her on edge – but as the play evolves you realise there is more to the story than meets the eye.
Although the Meadows is a relatively safe space during the day, when the heat comes out – how unruly can it get? When the locals flock to the spot and inevitably begin to act up, Nicky is more needed than ever.
Being a police officer means a lot to McCreadie, forming a large aspect of her identity as she follows in her fathers’ footsteps, despite the lurking feeling that she doesn’t quite fit, and that the force is still a “boys club”.
She reveals that working for the police has been a long time goal, and she doesn’t care about the extra hours if it means keeping the city of Edinburgh safe. But how “safe” can a city really be for women, when dark walks home alone are a reality?
More information comes out as the play progresses, about her father, her colleagues and her personal life. Comments made that can be dismissed as harmless at first, soon get built upon to show a harmful pattern.
Cowan does an expert job of not giving away too much before the climax, instead providing enough that through hindsight you realise what the play had been leading up to all along.
The decision to make the protagonist of the play a female police officer was an insightful decision by the playwright, as it added a new dimension to the conversation surrounding women and the police.
The idea that, without uniform, female police officers can also be vulnerable, was thought-provoking. Although it could be interpreted as a form of support for the police, it came across as an exploration of gender politics in its complicated forms.
Alright Sunshine plays at 16.20 at the Pleasance Dome until the 24th of August.
Featured Image Credit: Michelle Mangan PR
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Journalism and English student.
