''Presence'' is the third full-length

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

by Scottish playwright

David Harrower David Harrower (born 1966) is a Scottish playwright who (as of 2005) lives in Glasgow. Harrower has published over 10 original works, as well as numerous translations and adaptations. Career Harrower's first play, ''Knives in Hens'', which pr ...

. It portrays a fictionalised account of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' first residency in Hamburg.

Plot

Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (; born 24 November 1941) is an English retired musician who was the drummer for the Beatles from 1960 to 1962. He was dismissed shortly before the band achieved worldwide fame and is one of several people referred to as a ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

share a room as they play the Indra Club (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and

Stuart Sutcliffe Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a British painter and musician from Edinburgh, Scotland, best known as the original bass guitarist of the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a pa ...

are off-stage characters). Pete, newly joined to the group, is shown as an outsider, the diffident George, the youngest of the group, contrasts to the domineering Paul. The play ends as George is arrested for being out after the curfew imposed on minors in Hamburg (in real life he had lied to the German authorities about his age in order to be allowed to stay in Hamburg). The group play to dwindling audiences until Paul, angry at the band's lack of success and at being told that club owner

Bruno Koschmider Bruno Koschmider (1926 – 2000) was a German entrepreneur in Hamburg, best known for employing the Beatles in the early 1960s. He controlled various businesses, such as the Bambi Kino, which was a cinema, the Indra club and the Kaiserkeller. P ...

was in the

Panzer division A Panzer division was one of the Division (military)#Armored division, armored (tank) divisions in the German Army (1935–1945), army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the Blitzkrieg, ...

, begins sending up

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

– wearing jackboots and crying “Sieg Heil” – which attracts a young audience to the club. That the Beatles are reported actually to have done this, coupled with Harrower's desire to write about the dynamics of a

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

were the origins of the play. The play alludes to events that followed this – Pete and Paul raised a small fire in their room – by having an older German woman, whose knowledge of the Nazi past counterpoints the young men's ignorance, set fire to a jacket hanging on the wall.

Stage history

The play's première was at London's

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

, at the smaller 60-seat Theatre Upstairs, on 19 April 2001. The director was James Kerr, the designer was Rae Smith, the assistant director was

Nina Raine Nina Raine is an English theatre director and playwright, the only daughter of Craig Raine and Ann Pasternak Slater, and a grand niece of the Russian novelist Boris Pasternak. She graduated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1998 with a First in E ...

, company voice work was by

Patsy Rodenburg Patsy Rodenburg, OBE (born 2 September 1953) is a British voice coach, author, and theatre director. She is the Head of Voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and has also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal ...

. The cast was: George –

Ralf Little Ralf Alastair John Little (born 8 February 1980) is an English actor, writer, presenter, narrator and former semi-professional Association football, footballer. He has worked mainly in television comedy, including playing Antony Royle in ''The ...

Paul – William Ash
Pete – Michael Legge
Marian –

Sarah Woodward Sarah Woodward (born 3 April 1963) is a British actress who won an Olivier Award in 1998 for ''Tom & Clem'' and was Tony nominated in 2000 for '' The Real Thing''. Sarah is the daughter of actor Edward Woodward and his first wife, actress Ven ...

Elke –

Christine Tremarco Christine Tremarco (born 1977) is a British actress. Her career began in 1992 when, at the age of 15, she starred as Lily in the ABC/BBC miniseries ''The Leaving of Liverpool'', for which she was nominated for an AACTA Award. Other television ...

The production received mixed to good reviews.

Play text

The play text was published by Faber and Faber and has been translated into

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

.Arts and Theatre Institute
/ref>

Notes

References

* ''The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary Playwrights'' edited by edited by Martin Middeke, Peter Paul Schnierer,

Aleks Sierz Aleks Sierz is a British theatre critic. He is known for popularising the term " In-yer-face theatre", which was the title of a book he published in 2001. Sierz was educated at Manchester University and holds a PhD from Westminster University. ...

, Methuen, 2015, {{Authority control The Beatles George Harrison Paul McCartney 2001 plays Plays based on real people Plays set in Germany Hamburg in fiction Scottish plays Faber & Faber books