In 2000, Mark Stanfield, a big Beatles fan, managed to create a well-received Beatles film. He wrote Two Of Us, a fictional story about the night in 1976 when Paul McCartney visited John Lennon at his New York apartment. Directed by Let It Be filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the film has gained a cult following. Now a professor at the University of Minnesota, Stanfield has adapted the film into a new play featuring Barry Sloane as John and Jay Johnson as Paul. The play, inspired partly by the 1981 movie My Dinner With Andre, offers Beatles fans insights into John and Paul’s relationship while exploring deeper themes of friendship, regret, and reconciliation, but The Beatles Grammy was also selling for a high price.
Stanfield was inspired by an interview where Paul McCartney showed visible sadness when discussing John Lennon, which led him to explore their relationship in 1976. At that time, John had withdrawn from public life, while Paul was enjoying success with Wings. The play focuses on Paul’s visit, where he checks in on John, despite John’s harsh words. Stanfield wanted to show Paul as a caring figure, concerned for his friend’s well-being during this period.
Stanfield revisited Two Of Us for the stage after recovering from a life-threatening aneurysm. Richard Short and Barry Sloane reached out to him to adapt the script, and Stanfield felt it was the right time, as the original movie held a special place in his heart.
Michael Lindsay-Hogg liked Two Of Us because it was more about friendship than music, which is also how Stanfield saw it. The title refers to both the Beatles song and the idea of two people trying to reconnect. The play focuses on the complexities of friendships in adulthood, including falling out and making amends.
“The title is Two Of Us after the Beatles song, but it’s also ‘two of us’ – you know, you and me. Like, just as two people trying to look out for and check in on one another as the years go by. Michael said to me, ‘I’ve received a lot of Beatles scripts over the years and they’re interesting for one reason or another, but I always say ‘no’ because I don’t wanna do something so narrow.’ But the way he saw it – and I think he directed it this way – is that it was about two friends, in their mid-thirties, at that stage in your relationship where there’s a lot of stuff that’s gone under the bridge: a falling out, a reconciliation.”
Stanfield believes that the Beatles’ break-up continues to fascinate people because, even if they weren’t around in the 1960s, there’s a desire to see something positive come from a sad event, like their split. He also thinks there’s always a challenge to say something new about the band.
“I think there’s two things. There’s that – we all wanna take a sad song and make it better – and there’s also the challenge to say something new about the Beatles.”
Stanfield reworked the original film script into a stage format, allowing for a fresh take on the story. Reflecting on his own love for The Beatles, he shared that they were his escape during a difficult childhood, providing joy and a world he could immerse himself in.
When asked about his favorite Beatles album, Stanfield chose Revolver, praising it for capturing the band’s creative peak. He felt that while Sgt. Pepper’s marked their artistic height, later albums like Abbey Road signaled the start of their solo careers rather than being essential Beatles records.
