(seen at the afternoon performance on 25th April 2026)
Plenty has been written about the Beatles – the final four and those who were not. Plenty too about George Martin, their impressive producer.
Far less is available about Brian Epstein, the Gay son of a Jewish furniture store owner, who managed the Beatles from their first highs at the Cavern Club until Epstein tragically took his own life in 1967.
Author Tom Wright sets out to explore how Epstein came to manage some of the biggest talents of the era, but more importantly how a Gay man negotiated an illegal lifestyle in private – whilst in the public eye.
This is not a “jukebox” musical. Nobody plays Beatles hits, a verse of a single Cilla Black number is as much as we get of “Merseybeat;” unless you happen to be in the “gents” to hear the piped-in interval music.
Amit Sharma’s overly-busy production takes a sometimes expositionary text with unevenly paced, random length scenes and eventually succeeds in finding some life in a rather humourless biography.
Rather too many moving objects are designed by Tom Piper to shift us between Epstein’s father’s shop, various backstage locations, hotel rooms and homes.
Piper’s Cavern Club stage is a triumph, though Rory Beaton grossly over-eggs the lighting system available for it.
Sound designer David Shrubsole doesn’t really find the acoustic either, nor how to make a telephone ring in the correct place on stage.
The cast too often dance with the furnishings and narrate, instead of playing scenes together. When they do, however, there are some sharply written and revealing sequences.
All except Brian (Calam Lynch) and John (Noah Ritter) play multiple roles, highly successfully.
Seldom off-stage, Lynch chills as he charts the rise of a frustrated closeted young man into a music mogul. Later, his descent into substance and self-abuse becomes something he is always aware of, but cannot control.
A West End budget may have allowed more to be shown in makeup and costume, but our sympathies are always with him and he delivers right to a final (slightly superfluous) final post-mortem meeting with his infatuation.
Lennon was always Brian’s crush, Ritter playing Wright’s speculative idea of a Torremolinos hotel seduction scene with Lynch with explicit conviction.
Not always provided within the dialogue, Ritter still captures the mercurial Beatle perfectly, the link between many other relationships in Epstein’s life – interpersonal and creative.
Eleanor Worthington-Cox applies her usual character talents to cover every female role in the tale.
Wisely, she chooses not to engage in a full Cilla impersonation, giving us a simple interpretation which tastes sufficiently of Black.
Similarly, her Cynthia Lennon is an ordinary lady in love with an extraordinary phenomenon. Worthington-Cox finds the vulnerability and inner strength.
A short spell as Aunt Mimi is a highlight of the first act, steel in both eye and morals.
William Robinson and Arthur Wilson provide fathers, brothers, lawyers, camp (literally) followers – a long list of encounters required to fully encapsulate the tale.
Wright does well to give us important insight and fresh detail about a troubled man who left us far too soon. We gain a new perspective on both the era and cut through some of the myths surrounding the Fab Four.
Tighter editing, with a means of imparting important early information in a more naturalistic fashion is really required, but there has to be the basis here for a film rather than future stage life.
A useful insight for Beatles fans and those interested in the social attitudes of the era.
3 stars