THE KINKS were one of the most influential bands of the sixties, hair longer than the school summer holidays, songs with lyrics that punched out attitude - and melodies that wouldn’t shift from the psyche.

But how to turn the story of the icon North London band into a classic piece of musical theatre - without relying on the time-honoured jukebox tactic of simply playing song-after-song?

Playwright Joe Penhall has more than come up with the answer in Sunny Afternoon, in which he traces the story of the Davies brothers and their bandmates.

The writer has created a west end hit thanks to a clever introduction of a rags –to-riches storyline, revealing the triumphs and disasters - such as being ripped off blind by the music moguls, along the way.

He’s been true to the tale of the band who began pop life as the Ravens in 1963,so full of cockney charm, cheek and talent.

And while the socialist-minded Kinks fought the music establishment for a fair deal, they also fought amongst themselves.

But of course, Sunny Afternoon is also a story of feuding brothers who fought only slightly less than Cain and Abel.

“From the get-go Ray was always in charge,” offers Mark Newnham, who plays younger brother Dave Davies.

“Ray was the one who looked after contracts and was given the pen to sign. Over the years, this ebbed at way at Dave. He didn’t want to play second fiddle to his brother.

“This is probably where the rivalry stemmed from. But the brothers used to do boxing at school, and Ray was one of the fastest kids in the school, so he was always the success story.”

Mark adds; “And Ray didn’t live with his mum and dad. He lived with his sister, and so when he came home he was the special one.

“But all this makes for a great play. “There were lots of on-stage antics with the band and for me it’s a joy to rival Ryan for two and a half hours every night.”

He laughs; “Each night I look for new ways of annoying him.”

Ryan O’Donnell has been playing Ray Davies for 18 months.

“And it feels great,” he says. “The audiences are making an incredible noise. And Joe Penhall has come up with an amazing script.”

Davies wrote deliciously cynical songs. Sunny Afternoon was about a superstar being abused by the taxman and dumped by his girlfriend, at a time (1966) when the Labour Government was wrestling with a financial crises. “Sunny Afternoon wasn’t just music,” says writer Philip Norman. “It was reportage.”

It was social comment with a backbeat. The Kinks’ music was about biting riff choruses the world could sing along to, such as You Really Got Me.

And the gentle Waterloo Sunset constructed thoughts of London and young love, underlining the notion we had moved on from bleak kitchen sink drama to an era of pop technicolour and opportunity.

Each of the actors in Sunny Afternoon are all musicians in their own right.

“The best thing we have latched onto is that we all play pretty well together,” says Garmon Rhys, who plays the late Pete Quaife, the anxious bass player who quit the band in 1969, claiming he was bored at not playing, just sitting around collecting royalty cheques.

“We practised for three weeks in London, and it became seamless.”

Garmon, who got his first bass aged ten and went on to play in school bands, adds; “But it’s all well and good playing these songs but I’m more interested in the narrative, in telling the story of this band. Otherwise you may as well be playing in a tribute band.

“I want to get across the story of the Kinks, to an audience who may not know the journey they went on.

“And Joe Penhall has really read everything about the Kinks. So you just have to do justice to the fact he’s written a great script.”

The rifts in the band weren’t confined to the Davies brothers.

Andrew Gallo, who has played drums since the age of twelve, reveals his character Mick Avory goes at it hammer and tongs with Dave Davies.

“Playing the drums lets me access him,” he says grinning of Avory. “There’s a spectacular fight between Mick and Dave and playing lets me reach that point when I can really get worked up.

“But the beautiful thing about Mick is he’s a drummer through and through. He’s a miserable b*****.”

The actors may be of a generation after the Kinks, but that doesn’t mean they see the music as antiquarian.

“I’ve know the Kinks music for some time,” says Ryan. “I appeared in the stage musical Quodrophenia, and I was a big fan of the Who, which means, by default, you are a fan of the Kinks.

“Then I went to see this show when it first played in Hampstead and I realised that every tune is massive and catchy.”

Garmon, who grew up in North Wales, agrees the Kinks music transcends time.

“I think anyone who is interested in the origins of rock n’roll will have come across the Kinks,” he says.

Dave Davies is yet to make an appearance at Sunny Afternoon.

But what does Ray think of the performances?

“Ray is quiet. He’s quite introverted,” says Ryan. “I’ve met him a couple of time and he’s been very supportive.”

Has he given any little notes of criticism?

“Not to us. But he’ll turn up at shows and then you realise he’s sitting in the back row.

“Yet, I think it must be hard for him to watch this, when he looks up on stage and realises this isn’t quite as he remembers it.”

But the stage show is derived from Ray Davies’ own story. And he will be happy about it. It’s a national touring success as well as a west end success.

The music of Kinks live on, and Ray Davies picks up a nice royalty check.

“That’s true,” says Ryan, smiling in agreement. “He must be happy right enough.”

*Sunny Afternoon, The King’s Theatre, October 11 -15