By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Thursday 30 April and runs through 29 May 2026 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

The depth of the relationship between John Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein has been much speculated upon and here Calam Lynch and Noah Ritter explore what was certainly an unusually close friendship.

• Read on for reasons including how it’s the talented cast that is the best reason to see this show

Epstein was gay in the 60s at a time when it was illegal and yet Lennon accompanied him on holiday to Torremolinos seemingly fascinated watching his manager picking up sexual partners and perhaps even allowing himself to be seduced.

Author Tom Wright acknowledges in the programme that much of Epstein’s private life is unrecorded and Please, Please Me enters this vacuum attempting to ‘reclaim Brian Epstein as one of Britain’s great, and often overlooked, gay figures’.

Lynch and Ritter make for a handsome couple and Please, Please Me is at its strongest when reflecting on what is known about Epstein – he dressed The Beatles in suits to make them more likely for mass appeal – and presenting that memorably in the look and feel of the production.

Unfortunately, it can’t revel in the back catalogue which is the main reason for the success that Epstein successfully oversees and this is why Please, Please Me feels more tease than entertainment.

Eleanor Worthington-Cox plays multiple roles including Cilla Black, the former Cavern coat check assistant and only woman Epstein managed, who briefly gets to perform You’re My World.

Yet this too feels like a wasted opportunity as any light she’s able to shed on Epstein’s character feels less than illuminating.

It all adds to the perculiar feeling that the more interesting story is actually unfolding offstage and unseen.

The best reason to see Please, Please Me is for its talented cast with Ritter as Lennon making a memorable stage debut which conveys quite how enigmatic, rebellious and intoxicating he was especially for Epstein.

Unfortunately, without the hits though to make sense of the worldwide adulation The Beatles inspired this play feels like it’s missing a great deal.

Not sure what fans of The Beatles would make of Please, Please Me but, like the suits, it felt like a triunph of marketing rather than the substance that the band so clearly possessed.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Kiln Theatre Tickets
• Have you seen a Beatles show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this preview? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook