History informs Beatles play

The Hamburg club scene where it all began

By BBC News' Neil Smith

The Fab Four's sojourn in Hamburg has already inspired the film BackBeat, which viewed the 1960 trip from the perspective of John Lennon and "fifth Beatle" Stuart Sutcliffe.

Scottish playwright David Harrower plumbs the same iconography in his new play Presence at London's Royal Court Theatre, which juxtaposes the exuberance of the Merseyside band with their German hosts' tragic recent past.

Though the band is never named, it's clear from the start who William Ash's bullish Paul, Ralf Little's gawky George and Michael Legge's near-silent Pete are meant to be.

Forced to share a grotty room in the Hamburg club where they nightly perform to ever-dwindling audiences, the lively banter soon gives way to homesickness, tension and self-doubt.

The turning point comes when the lads learn their employer may have been a Nazi, prompting a jackbooted Paul to deliver the now-legendary "Seig Heil" which set the group on the road to fame and glory.

Legge's brooding perfomance ironically makes Pete Best the centre of attention

Harrower deftly weaves what we know about the Beatles' time in Hamburg (Pete's dismissal, George's deportation, the unconfirmed rumours of arson) into a poetic exploration of the Nazi legacy.

He also creates two decent female roles - the club's manager Marian - an ex-"Swing Kid" interned before the war for her love of American music - and waitress Elke, who hides her disgust for her nation behind a brash American accent.

It is debatable whether the semi-factual story can shoulder the burden of political and historical significance the author gives it, and the result is more muddled than revelatory.

In gangly Royle Family star Little, however, director James Kerr has found the perfect George Harrison.

While Legge's brooding performance ironically makes Pete Best - probably the least talented moptop of them all - the centre of attention.

At a slender 80 minutes, Presence can only hope to be a minor postscript to the Beatles' myth, and Lennon's absence is keenly felt throughout.

That said, this affecting, mordantly witty and excellently acted drama is definitely worth a look.

Presence is on at the Royal Court Theatre, London, until 12 May