Two of Us: Review

Two of Us, the title taken from the opening song on The Beatles’ final album, looks at the friendship behind what is still probably the greatest song writing partnership of all time – John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

The story has been adapted for the stage by Mark Stanfield, Richard Short and Barry Sloane from Stanfield’s screenplay of the same name, which explores what might have happened during the pair’s final meeting in 1976. The concept is the same, but the play confines the action to Lennon’s New York apartment with one brief rooftop scene.

Amy Jane Cook has created an impressive set design, which although static creates interest and movement through its open plan layout, realistic furnishings and large windows looking out onto the Manhattan skyline. From the opening scene it feels like you could walk in and set up home there – is it any wonder John Lennon has decided not to leave?

The show opens with a montage of interview clips that set the stage for a fractious relationship between the two. McCartney is flying high at the top of the US charts with his new band Wings, with wife Linda, whereas Lennon has become something of a recluse as a stay-at-home dad for his 6-month-old son, Sean with wife Yoko-Ono.

Ahead of Wings’ gig at Madison Square Gardens McCartney turns up unannounced at Lennon’s apartment. The rest of the play imagines what might have happened behind closed doors.

In this respect it feels an overstretch to call this, as it does, a dramatisation of real events. But that aside, it works well as a drama, particularly exploring male friendships.

Barry Slone (co-writer) plays Lennon as a nervous, complicated soul full of contradictions, whereas Jay Johnson’s McCartney is much more self-assured and stable. Their on-stage chemistry is visceral and pulls the audience into the story from the start. Both actors have mastered the accents and mannerisms, but their sarcastic banter which switches from joking and gentle ribbing to irritation in seconds takes their performances to another level in us believing these are two friends with a long and involved history.

The conversations cover some history of the band as well as touching on their relationships with their wives. But mostly it focuses on friendship, love, loss and the pains of growing apart. While there are certainly uplifting and genuinely funny moments, overall, we’re left with a feeling of melancholy. Like The Beatles final track ‘Now and Then’, which we hear snatches off through the show, it gives us a glimpse of what might have been and fans’ imaginations will always add to that what they will.

Two of Us is at Home, Manchester from 26-28 September 2024.