Noah Ritter and Calam Lynch in Please Please Me at the Kiln Theatre, London. Picture: Mark Senior
Please Please Me continues at the Kiln Theatre, London until 29 May 2026.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
It was some years ago today that something amazing happened in the story of The Beatles. Whatever date it is you happen to be reading this, you can be sure of that. Their extraordinary career played out over a remarkably short space of time, so it is a certainty that on any given day of the year, something amazing happened about which entire books have been written.
The Fab Four were hungry for success, but – with the possible exception of notorious workaholic Paul McCartney – it is unlikely the band would have had the discipline and drive to commit to their shockingly jam-packed schedule without the influence of the man who discovered them underground and sweaty and cleaned them up for public consumption: their manager Brian Epstein.
As with anything even remotely Beatle-related, Brian Epstein has been written about extensively. Deservedly so: his was a fascinating life. Still, he remains a lesser-discussed figure in the band’s history than, for example, George Martin or Yoko Ono.
Casual fans may know that John Lennon once claimed the band were “more popular than Jesus” or that the melody for the song ‘Yesterday’ came to McCartney in a dream, but may not be aware that amidst the rampant homophobia and antisemitism of the 1960s, The Beatles were managed by a gay, Jewish man who tragically died at the height of their fame.
Telling the entire remarkable story of Brian Epstein’s journey from mild-mannered record shop manager to his tragic overdose and death with a small cast and 130-minute running time (including interval) does mean the scope of this play can feel simultaneously too wide and too narrow.
The Beatles’ image was tightly controlled, and the extant interviews we have with Epstein evidence a careful, well-spoken man who one would never expect to so much as have a tea stain on his immaculate shirt. Calam Lynch wisely steers clear of an outright impersonation in his portrayal. The real man clearly had far greater depth than the carefully crafted public image and it is these depths Lynch explores.
Though at times the script flirts with cliché in its rise and fall structure, Lynch does a great deal to keep the character interesting. As Epstein slips into the hedonism of drugs, alcohol and rent boys, he is overtaken by a sweaty, animalistic wildness that is quite enthralling to witness from mere metres away. The pure physical energy Lynch brings to the role buttresses the show’s message of what a force of nature this man was. Were it not for this man’s fierce spirit, he may never have achieved so much in his short life, and the world sure is grateful he achieved what he did.
Such is the public’s fascination with The Beatles, any new media even tangentially associated with them gives the band and their music centre stage. Here, however, four members of The Beatles (Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Pete Best) are barely referenced. Even their music is absent, with composer/sound designer David Shrubsole instead using soundalike instrumentals built around famous Beatle drum patterns to soundtrack scene changes.
The sole representation of the Fab Four is the Beatle who many agree had a special place in Epstein’s heart: John Lennon. Noah Ritter imbues “the smart one” with a refreshing aura of danger: a facet of his personality often overlooked in popular portrayals. Despite Lennon being the band member with perhaps the most angst and most prone to violence, he is too often sanitised as a cheeky Teddy Boy or drugged-out hippy. Ritter is a suitably commanding presence for the Beatle whom it is suspected had a spiritual and romantic hold over his manager.
The infamous Spanish holiday the pair took together in 1963 is a key scene of this play. While it is generally accepted that the trip did have a sexual component, we can’t know the full truth. Playwright Tom Wright’s version of events does have a ring of authenticity, which is an achievement given a sexual depiction of two beloved public figures portrayed by attractive, half-naked actors can very easily feel like wish fulfilment fanfiction.
William Robinson and Arthur Wilson are absolute delights in a plethora of supporting roles, but it is the cast’s sole woman who dazzles in every scene. Eleanor Worthington-Cox masterfully portrays icons of Beatles and 60s Liverpool history: John’s Aunt Mimi, Cynthia Lennon and Cilla Black. Versatility is one thing, but creating three distinct characters and stealing the show with each one is a wonder. An astonishingly good performance.
Amit Sharma’s kinetic direction keeps proceedings rolling along nicely and the show never drags. Tom Piper’s costumes and sets evoke an almost noir-ish 1960s, aided considerably by Rory Beaton’s wonderful lighting design. I have never been let down by the visuals at a Kiln production, and on this front Please Please Me is up there with their very best.
The inescapable problem with the piece is its lack of grounding. Key events are necessarily streamlined in such a way to give the requisite nods to famous moments in the well-known story, but to the detriment of truly believable dialogue or realistic situations. It is hard to forget you are watching a play when what you are hearing sounds so much like dialogue from a play. Still, Wright has researched well and despite some understandable contrivances for the sake of narrative, there is little that could anger even the most joyless nit-picking Beatle nerd (e.g., the author of this review).
Please Please Me’s incredibly talented cast and creative team make this retelling as good as it possibly can be, but there might be simply too much cultural baggage to tackle the enormity of Epstein’s story on this limited scale. Having said that, it is such a compelling tale that even this imperfect exploration is an undeniably enjoyable experience.
Don’t end your day of Beatles sightseeing at Abbey Road’s zebra crossing: travel a mile further north to the gorgeous Kiln Theatre and see another side to the band whose artistic and cultural impact remains unsurpassed 60 years on. Flawed but fab.
Ian Bowkett
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