★★★★

“Both actors are pretty accomplished pianists, and we feel the bonhomie as they jam together”

“You and I have memories – longer than the road that stretches out ahead”. Although Paul McCartney wrote those lines – from the song ‘Two of Us’ – for his wife Linda, it has always been interpreted as a gesture of affection to John Lennon; made all the more moving as the Beatle’s were well on the way to breaking up. When the Beatles eventually split, the rift between Lennon and McCartney was famously chronicled in the pair’s musical output. Lennon’s “How do you Sleep?” was probably the most scathing, rebuffed by McCartney’s deliberately lightweight and tongue-in-cheek “Silly Love Songs”. The global phenomenon of McCartney’s “Yesterday” was always a bugbear of Lennon’s. The reality was always kept close to the couple’s chests, but speculation was fuelled across the media and around gramophone players as fans pored over the lyrics looking for extra layers of meaning.

Among them was self-confessed Beatles nut, Mark Stanfield, who used the song title for his 2000 film “Two of Us” which became a cult favourite. Now, re-written for the stage with Barry Sloane and Richard Short, it has evolved into a poignant study of friendship, of falling out, reconciliation and looking out for someone. “Two of Us” could be you and me; could be anyone. It’s an ‘everyman’ story, but built around the Lennon-MacCartney duo, it is an inspired choice that dishes out some gripping and honest dialogue.

We are in Lennon’s apartment in The Dakota, overlooking Central Park in 1976, and Paul McCartney turns up unannounced. It was to be the last time they met. The atmosphere is immediately evoked by Amy Jane Cook’s sparse but functional whitewashed apartment – complete with white grand piano. Adrienne Quartly’s realistic sound design firmly places Manhattan six storeys below. Barry Sloane’s Lennon is alone, dressed in a white kimono, jittery and distracted. We immediately wonder if he is okay. Cold Turkey comes to mind, but is it depression? Anxiety? Sloane masterfully gets under the fame, and the skin, to reveal Lennon’s vulnerability beneath the incisive shell. When Jay Johnson’s McCartney crosses the threshold, they initially tread cautiously around each other afraid to break the shell, yet past gripes are clearly seen through the cracks. Johnson is convincing as ‘Macca’ – at times the cheeky-chappy-Scouser whilst also having the gravitas and licence to neutralise Lennon’s acidity. But moreover, Johnson reveals a deeply caring soul who lives with the regret of being unable to fully express his love for his lifelong friend.

The ice breaks at the piano. Both actors are pretty accomplished pianists, and we feel the bonhomie as they jam together. But old wounds resurface, replaced almost as quickly by fond memories, adolescent mischief and a generous supply of wacky baccy. Scot Williams directs with a Pinteresque eye, allowing the action and the emotions to unfold in real time. Sometimes the pauses and silences drag, but for the most part they give us time to prepare ourselves for the next twist in the encounter. In a similar way, McCartney seems to be constantly bracing himself for the attack.

The two actors give powerfully realistic performances, although occasionally hindered by platitudes. And, although not necessarily a revelation, we see another side to the characters. Historical facts are teased out (sometimes via cringeworthy puns) rather than force fed to us, which is a refreshing change from the exposition that often plagues plays like this. Ultimately it is a love story. Of sorts. It comes from the writer’s heart. The final scenes hover between pathos and schmaltz, not quite sure which side of the boundary to land. Yet we are moved. And entertained. Whatever issues underlie the relationship, or sorrows that remain unresolved, “Two of Us” knows how to ‘take a sad song and make it better’.

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF at the Garrick Theatre

★★★

“the work feels constrained by its loyalty to the original series”

James Graham’s latest stage play following smash hit ‘Dear England’ is another piece that seeks to show us something about the state of the nation, albeit this time from a historical, rather than contemporary, lens. Boys from the Blackstuff is an adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s 1982 TV drama, considered among the best TV dramas of the twentieth century and currently available on BBC iPlayer. Now playing at the Garrick Theatre after transferring from the Liverpool Royal Court via the National Theatre, it’s a piece that attempts to both act as a faithful homage to the much-loved series, whilst introducing the blackstuff to younger audiences more likely to assume it’s in reference to the decline of mining towns than out of work tarmac layers.

Despite some suggestions that the play is just as relevant today, if not more so, than it was on TV release in 1982, this is most definitely a period piece. Unemployment in the UK in the early 1980s reached more than 10%, a far cry from the current national average of 4%. But in Liverpool, unemployment reached a whopping 20%, double the national average, following the collapse of the shipping industry and shedding of workers by major employers that were or still are common household names: United Biscuits, Tate and Lyle, Kellogg’s and Schweppes. Whilst this trend of higher-than-average unemployment persists in Liverpool today, the scale of the challenge is incomparable to what was experienced some 40 years ago.

Some of the underlying causes for this are explored in the play with characters providing theories from economics to geography. But ultimately, the ensemble piece shows how all the boys: Chrissie, Yosser, George, Dixie, Loggo and Snowy; are all most concerned with how they will survive, quite literally, as breadwinners for their families.

It takes a while for each of the characters to develop beyond surface level for several reasons. In Act One, the too short scenes are punctuated by over-choreographed set changes accompanied by the singing of an adapted Irish folk song, meaning conversations feel stunted. Time is also given to comic moments seemingly dropped in from the series that are not particularly sophisticated but got big laughs from the crowd.

All this results in a simplisitic portrayal of ‘good’ boys just trying to provide for themselves and their families picking up casual work and claiming the giro vs. the evil staff at the Department for Employment. Things do improve in Act Two, but it’s too long coming, meaning when Snowy dies after being chased by the dole-snoopers, we know too little about him to really care.

The most developed character is Yosser Hughes (Barry Sloane), the most forceful and fearsome of the group. Sloane’s portrayal of a man in the midst of a mental breakdown is rousing, aided by Kate Wasserberg’s choice to have him speak to his kids without them appearing on stage in an otherwise realist piece. This is explained at the show’s climax to devastating effect. But alongside this quite tragic arc, Sloane must continually regurgitate Yosser’s ‘gizza job’ catch phrase, which again may work on TV spread out over many episodes, but wore thin after it’s umpteenth hearing.

One of the piece’s saving grace’s is Amy Jane Cook’s set and costume design which feels fresh and exciting, with ominous cranes like fossilized relics of Liverpool’s once glorious past towering over the action. But on the whole, the work feels constrained by its loyalty to the original series, with the potential for more tension and drama in a more radical interpretation, rather than the apparently faithful condensation of a five-part series to a 2.5-hour stage production.

Tag Archives: Amy Jane Cook

TWO OF US

★★★★

Watford Palace Theatre

TWO OF US at the Watford Palace Theatre

★★★★

“Both actors are pretty accomplished pianists, and we feel the bonhomie as they jam together”

TWO OF US at the Watford Palace Theatre

Reviewed on 17th September 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Ross Kernahan

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 1936 | ★★★★ | March 2023

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST | ★★★★ | December 2022

TWO OF US

TWO OF US

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BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF

★★★

Garrick Theatre

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF at the Garrick Theatre

★★★

“the work feels constrained by its loyalty to the original series”

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF at the Garrick Theatre

Reviewed on 18th June 2024

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Alastair Muir

Boys From the Blackstuff was originally commissioned and produced by Liverpool Royal Court

Previously reviewed at the Garrick Theatre:

FOR BLACK BOYS … | ★★★★ | March 2024

HAMNET | ★★★ | October 2023

THE CROWN JEWELS | ★★★ | August 2023

ORLANDO | ★★★★ | December 2022

MYRA DUBOIS: DEAD FUNNY | ★★★★ | September 2021

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page