Ray Connolly. Rozhlasová hra. Produkce a režie Gary Brown.
Osoby a obsazení: Freda Kelly (Sara Bahadori), John Lennon (Andrew Knott), Paul McCartney (Stephen Fletcher), George Harrison (Luke Broughton), Ringo Starr (Daniel Crossley), Brian Epstein & George Martin (Jonathan Keeble), nevlastní matka & paní Harrisonová (Ruth Alexander-Rubin), Cynthia (Hope Brownhill).
Nastudovalo BBC Radio v roce 2013. Premiéra 14. 11. 2013 (BBC Radio 4, 44 min.) v cyklu Afternoon Drama. Repríza 11. 12. 2015 (BBC Radio 4, 14:15 h). K poslechu zde.
Česká inscenace vznikla v roce 2016 pod názvem Poslední šance pro Beatles.
Lit.: anonym: Sorry Boys You Failed The Audition by Ray Connolly. In web MixCloud, b. d. (článek + nahrávka k poslechu). – Cit.: In the summer of 1962 the Beatles auditioned for producer George Martin. As the world knows they succeeded.
But what if they’d been turned down, as seen by Freda, their fan club secretary?
Ray Connolly is known for writing the screenplays for the films ‚That’ll Be the Day‘ and the sequel ‚Stardust‘ winning a Writers Guild of Great Britain best screenplay award.
Known for interviews with the Beatles, was due to interview John Lennon on the day the ex-Beatle was murdered, an event he wrote about in the BBC radio play ‚Unimaginable‘.
In addition to the biography ‚John Lennon 1940-1980‘, he wrote the introduction to The Beatles Complete songbook.
Lit.: anonym: Sorry, Boys, You Failed the Audition. In web BBC, listopad 2013 (článek). – Cit.: In the summer of 1962 the Beatles auditioned for producer George Martin at Parlophone Records. Having been rejected by every other record company, it was their last chance to get a recording contract. As the world soon found out, they passed the audition.
But what if they’d been turned down? Seen through the eyes of Freda, their teenage Liverpool fan club secretary, this is an affectionate comedy drama about what might have happened to the Beatles if George Martin had said, ‚No‘.
Ray Connolly is a celebrated journalist and author. He is perhaps best known for writing the screenplays for the films ‚That’ll Be the Day‘ and the sequel ‚Stardust‘ for which he won a Writers Guild of Great Britain best screenplay award, and for his many interviews with the Beatles. He was due to interview John Lennon on the day the ex-Beatle was murdered, an event he wrote about in the BBC radio play ‚Unimaginable‘. In addition to the biography John Lennon 1940-1980, he wrote the introduction to The Beatles Complete songbook.
Lit.: anonym: Sorry, Boys, You Failed the Audition by Ray Connolly. In web Radio Drama Reviews Online, b. d. (článek). – Cit.: In 1962 the Beatles auditioned for George Martin at Parlophone Records; having been rejected by every other record company, this was their last chance to obtain a contract. Ray Connolly’s imaginative drama was based on what might have happened if their audition had failed, condemning the group to perpetual obscurity.
Seen through the eyes of Freda, their Liverpool fan club secretary (Sara Bahadori), Gary Brown’s production showed how the Fab Four broke up very quickly and devoted themselves to various pursuits. Paul (Stephen Fletcher) became a teacher, Ringo (Daniel Crossley) won the football pools and lived a comparatively plush lifestyle, while George (Luke Broughton) became an itinerant musician working for a variety of different bands. Freda worked hard to sustain interest in the group, but by the mid-Sixties no one was really interested. It was only due to the performance of a school musical, where John and Paul reunited to write the lyrics, that the Beatles managed to obtain another audition with George Martin (Jonathan Keeble) and clawed their way up the ladder to stardom.
The play made some important points about how chance often determines whether groups become successful or not. One good performance on one day can change people’s lives. On the other hand, Brown’s production suggested that the Fab Four were not really in control of their own destinies; like many groups of that period, they could be made or broken by institutions – record companies, newspapers and other media. The only way to survive in such a dog-eat-dog world was to be true to one’s inclinations – which is precisely what John Lennon (Andrew Knott) actually did.
With several clips from music of the early Sixties to enrich the soundscape, Sorry Boys … proved entertaining listening, with excellent vocal performances from the actors impersonating the Fab Four.
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Ray Connolly is known for writing the screenplays for the films ‚That’ll Be the Day‘ and the sequel ‚Stardust‘ winning a Writers Guild of Great Britain best screenplay award.
Known for interviews with the Beatles, was due to interview John Lennon on the day the ex-Beatle was murdered, an event he wrote about in the BBC radio play ‚Unimaginable‘.
In addition to the biography ‚John Lennon 1940-1980‘, he wrote the introduction to The Beatles Complete songbook.
Robert Ferguson. Rozhlasová hra. Režie Nils Nordberg.