Two of Us – HOME Mcr

It seems somehow apposite that this play about the last meeting of Paul McCartney and John Lennon should be staged just as a certain well-known group from Manchester is about to reunite.  Not just because of the massive debt that Oasis owed the Beatles but because Lennon and McCartney were in some ways like a pair of warring brothers only with more wit and talent.

Throughout the seventies, until John Lennon was murdered, they would both be constantly asked if The Beatles were going to reunite. There is a story that even after Lennon’s death the remaining three were offered a fortune to get back together but they all turned it down as they said without John it wouldn’t be The Beatles.

On an April night in 1976, Paul makes a surprise visit to John’s apartment in New York. Lennon has decided to step out of the limelight to concentrate on bringing up his son Sean. McCartney is riding high in the charts with Silly Love Songs and is about to play Madison Square Garden with Wings.

John is acerbic, neurotic, and full of barbed wit towards his old friend. Paul is more balanced and revels in the moments when Lennon lets his guard down and they partake in verbal flights of fancy from the old days. These glimpses of their friendship only exacerbate the distance that has grown between the two of them over time.

There are debates about whether popular music should be simply entertainment or whether songs should be more meaningful and carry a message. Paul is often put on the backfoot by John, but he is willing to fight his corner. Ultimately for him, “It’s the music that keeps me going.” John thinks Paul can write better songs, and Paul believes John should get back into the business and make the most of his talent.

Writers Mark Stanfield, Richard Short, and Barry Sloane have successfully created a play about friendship and love that is funny without being sentimental. We will never know what was said between the two men on that fateful night and the best compliment I can give this play is that it was completely believable and possibly not far from the truth.

The play cleverly highlighted the things they had in common; they were both young when their mothers died, and they both had recently lost their father. It also brought into sharp focus their philosophical and personal differences. John was in pain and felt everyone felt the same, yet Paul’s attitude was to get on with things and try and make people happy.

It made for riveting theatre as the tension between the two men would grow and relax. They were like a recently divorced couple who were still in love with each other but at the same time knew that they were better off apart. The constant push and pull between the two was breathtaking, and this was due to the outstanding central performances.

Barry Sloane’s John was full of sardonic wit, aphorisms and surface confidence. Yet he was also able to bring out the scared little boy that lay behind the swaggering intelligence. It was an audacious, skilled portrayal of a complex man. There was such attention to detail in this affecting, intricate and precise performance.

Jay Johnson as Paul could easily have slipped into the cheesy, upbeat Macca that some people characterise him as. He gave depth and heft to a man often seen as light and airy. He adeptly gave us the more conventional character who wanted to reconnect with his best mate but had the emotional intelligence to know how difficult that was bound to be.

It is on at HOME, Manchester until 28 September – https://homemcr.org/production/two-of-us/

Reviewer: Adam Williams

Reviewed: 26th September 2024

North West End UK Rating: