Caro Meets Theatre Interview

Valentine Pelka: Being John Lennon

By TW Editorial | Published on Sunday 5 May 2013

This week, Marshall + Cole Theatricals bring Alexander Marshall’s ‘In The End’, a much acclaimed insight into the untimely death of John Lennon, to Jermyn Street Theatre for a three week run. We talked to the show’s star, Valentine Pelka, about his work on the play.

CM: The show is about the death of John Lennon – but you are playing John Lennon. Can you tell us something about how the play is structured?
VP: The playwright Alexander Marshall derived the structure for the play from the book by the renowned psychotherapist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross entitled ‘On Death and Dying’ where she identifies the five stages of grief/death – Denial; Anger; Bargaining; Depression; and Acceptance.

CM: Why were you attracted to the role? Are you a fan?
VP: Although the Beatles were a bit early for me – my formative period was the seventies – ELO, Pink Floyd, Marc Bolan and T-Rex, Roy Wood and the Wizzard – the songs were always being played on the radio when I was very young and, somehow, they just permeated my consciousness. However, when I began my research for the role of John Lennon, I listened to them seriously and rapidly became a huge fan.

What attracted me to the role was more that it was the drama of a man living out the last fifteen minutes of his life. And you don’t need to be a Lennon or a Beatles fan necessarily to get what the play is about. But if you are a Beatles/Lennon fan, the story of this life that was so cruelly cut short is fascinating in itself.

CM: How hard did you have to work to recreate Lennon’s voice and mannerisms? Did you feel a big responsibility to get it right?
VP: I decided very early on that what was required was a portrait, not a caricature. So it’s not a case of impersonating John, on the one hand, but on the other, he had a very particular ‘sound’ and I’ve tried to get as close to that as possible. And of course the responsibility to get it right is huge, because you’re portraying a man who actually lived, and some of whose family are in the here and now. So it’s important to do justice to the character you’re playing.

CM: The play has been previously produced for the Edinburgh Festival and has been on tour – has your performance grown and developed since the premiere?
VP: I suppose we’re all a few years older and life has intervened to recalibrate our take on life. I lost both my parents during that time and when I now talk about ‘Death and Dying’ I think, perhaps, I understand a little better what is involved in the process John is going through.

CM: Will the show go on elsewhere after Jermyn Street?
VP: That’s in the lap of the Gods. I believe it to be a fantastic play about an extraordinary talent but ‘karma’, no doubt will play its part.

CM: As an actor, you’ve worked extensively, in film, TV and on stage. How do the three compare? Do you enjoy live performance more, or less?
VP: To me all performance is live. Whether it be to the seventy members of the audience at the Jermyn Street Theatre, or to a seventy strong film crew between ‘action’ and ‘cut’. It’s all about your perception of the job. If you think it’s live then, whatever the context, it is. I’ve loved film since I was a little boy, and then my head was turned by the works of Shakespeare at university. They’re both amazing means of expression, and I enjoy them both equally.

CM: If you weren’t an actor, what would you be?
VP: I paint and I write…so I guess those would be my other choices.

CM: What is your favourite John Lennon/Beatles track?
VP: There are two – ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ and ‘Hey Jude’.

‘In The End’ is on at Jermyn Street Theatre until 1 Jun, see the venue website here for more info and tickets. 

LINKS: www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk | www.andintheend.com | twitter.com/andintheendplay

Photo: Lindsay Moller