'Please Please Me' review — the visionary 'fifth Beatle' gets his due in this poignant new play

Read our review of Please Please Me, starring Calam Lynch as Brian Epstein, now in performances at the Kiln Theatre to 29 May.

Summary

• Please Please Me makes its world premiere at the Kiln Theatre
• Tom Wright's play centres on The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein
• Calam Lynch lends great humanity to this complex character
• Eleanor Worthington-Cox is excellent in several roles including Cilla Black

It is 63 years since The Beatles released their debut album, Please Please Me, and yet the analyses of them keep on coming. One less-examined aspect of their story is the visionary man who became their first manager, transforming them from a local gigging band into global superstars. Tom Wright’s compassionate new play follows Brian Epstein’s discovery of the group, his relationship with John Lennon, and his tragic descent into addiction, leading to his death at just 32.

Epstein was Jewish and gay; sex between consenting men was only legalised a month before his death, and so he spent his whole life in a place of covert activity, under constant threat of blackmail and violence. Wright gives us a poignant exploration of a man tortured by his then-illicit sexuality and addictions, and the rumoured intimacy he had with John Lennon.

In a cast of just five actors, Calam Lynch lends great humanity to Brian as he transforms through various physical and psychological changes. Lynch begins tightly wound, as stiff as his Savile Row suits, going on to embrace the supposed freedoms of the 1960s in unbuttoned linen shirts, then portraying the decline of the man as his addictions and mental turmoil take hold.

Noah Ritter makes a solid stage debut as John Lennon, never falling into caricature despite using Lennon’s distinctive vocal intonations and slightly static stance. Lynch and Ritter display credible chemistry, showing mutual respect and admiration, but also how Lennon’s carelessness was yet another painful blow to Brian’s mental stability. William Robinson and Arthur Wilson provide strong support as a variety of characters, such as one of Brian’s secret and violent partners, and the band’s lawyer Geoffrey.

As the cast’s only female performer, Eleanor Worthington-Cox is a standout as Lennon’s Aunt Mimi, wife Cynthia, and Cilla Black (who Epstein also managed). Merseyside-born and bred, Worthington-Cox’s accents have the most authenticity, and she has a typically powerful stage presence. She also gets the only song of the show, Cilla’s “You’re My World”, which cuts off midway, making you yearn for more.

Wright’s script covers much ground and Amit Sharma’s direction, along with Jess Williams’s deft movement direction, enables much of this through busy scene changes, giving great fluidity to the transitions. Tom Piper’s clever set design is also key with its versatile and mobile furniture. We go from Brian’s NEMS shop to the dark Cavern Club, a suite at the Waldorf Astoria, and various offices and hotel rooms with ease.

Epstein effectively discovered The Beatles, but it would have been fascinating to explore exactly what it was he saw in them and how he went about securing that first record deal. Wright touches on the merchandising rights disaster, but not royalties issues from that first album or how Epstein handed over 50% of The Beatles’ own company.

This is very much Epstein’s story, so anyone expecting a medley of The Beatles’ hits will leave disappointed. In fact, the band are absent from the stage completely and Lennon only appears after 40 minutes. Astronomical licensing costs mean there is no scope for the Fab Four’s music to be played, but its absence cannot help but be noticed.

Yet with sadness running throughout, Please Please Me is a thoughtful look at a tortured man who deserved much more than the world gave him.

Please Please Me is at the Kiln Theatre to 29 May. Book Please Please Me tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Please Please Me (Photos by Mark Senior)