Andrew Roblin - Posted - 04/19/2020:  07:08:12

Lennon's Banjo



“Do we have to divide the fish and the loaves for the multitudes again? Do we have to get crucified again? Do we have to do the walking on water again because a whole pile of dummies didn’t see it the first time or didn’t believe it when they saw it? That’s what they’re asking. ‘Get off the cross. I didn’t understand it the first time. Can you do it again?’ No way. You can’t do things twice.” John Lennon to interviewer David Sheff. Published in Playboy, January 1981



If ever anyone had a bit of the bejesus about him, it was John Lennon. Beatles fans—and history—have played their part, with the passion play sadly completed by Lennon's murder in 1980. Of all the relics left to us, none could be holier than Lennon's first instrument, the banjo he learned to play from his mother, Julia.



“Lennon's Banjo” a play by Rob Fennah, based on the novel “Julia's Banjo” by Fennah and Helen A. Jones, taps the symbolism of Lennon's banjo to tell a story that is sweet, touching and well worth seeing. Set in Liverpool, the play deftly weaves Beatle lore to tell the story of tour guide Barry Seddon, wonderfully played by Eric Potts, who finds an unopened letter from John Lennon to Stuart Sutcliffe in the pages of an old Beatles Monthly magazine. Lennon's letter hints at the location of the long-lost banjo, and Seddon sets out to find it. Others are on the trail too, including Seddon's friends and some characters from Texas.



There are a few false notes. The Texas characters' accents sometimes drift back and forth across the Atlantic, and the banjo music in the soundtrack sounds closer to “Deliverance” than “Ain't She Sweet,” which Lennon likely heard from Julia. But these are quibbles.



Even without the hook of lingering Beatlemania, the “Lennon's Banjo” would tell a beautiful story about dreams, hope and love. As it stands, it also has enough Beatles trivia to give fans the thrill of the true grail. But the play offers even more. “Lennon's Banjo” touches our sacred hearts.



“Lennon's Banjo” is showing on Youtube through Tuesday, April 21, 2020.

youtube.com/watch?v=e9_j2udixT0



Andrew Roblin is a banjoist and journalist.