Theatre isn’t simply facts and it’s certainly not about claiming to be some ‘true’ authority, drama is about uncovering the conflict that reveals character and in his dealings and in his soul, Brian was full of both.  But an elusive, private and less easily known man, I needed help to disarm and prise him open. So This Boy came along, a kind of mythical attitudinal, smart but sensitive spirit of the sixties and of the youthful city of Liverpool.  There is also more than a hint of sexual ambiguity  in him with insights gained from student days and a career in drama involving many a night out in theatre bars and clubs and sitting up talking about the joys, fears and exploits of gay friends and colleagues and those who just weren’t sure what they were.  With his fan’s scrap book tucked under his arm, This Boy’s meeting with Brian Epstein, one particular night in London, began to open up this complex character for me. That there is very little known about what happened on Brian’s last weekend (or those that do are not saying) gave me some breathing room.  Space to imagine and based on research, to create some of what might have happened.  In the relationship that began to develop in my head between Brian and the young stranger from Liverpool he briefly befriends, these two lost spirits then started to take over the story for themselves.

Writer  - Andrew Sherlock
Director -  Jen Heyes
Associate Designer  - Katie Scott
Lighting Design - Phil Saunders
Film Maker -  Anthony Swords
Original Designer -  Amanda Stoodley

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Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles is a window into the private world of the music entrepreneur whose stellar career as Beatles Manager made him a household name yet whose controversial personal life remained very much in the closet. Brian died in 1967 of an accidental overdose at the age of 32.

Acclaimed stage and TV actor Andrew Lancel (Coronation Street, The Bill) and Will Finlason play the roles of Brian Epstein and the fictional character ‘This Boy’ respectively, for which they each received rave reviews during the initial run of Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles in Liverpool, where the show premiered in November 2012 as part of the city’s official Beatles 50th Anniversary celebrations at the Epstein Theatre.

This two-hander play imagines this brilliant but troubled man’s drug-fuelled final days whilst looking back upon his illustrious adult life and meteoric career from his drama school days to managing the world’s biggest pop group – a must-see opportunity to discover a previously unexplored story and celebrate a true icon of 1960’s popular culture – a man who shaped music and style across the world.

Further information

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