Exeter Northcott Theatre has announced the world premiere of Made in Liverpool, a new play by Gerard McCarthy that tells the story of Stuart Sutcliffe, often referred to as the “fifth Beatle”.
Directed by Exeter Northcott Theatre Artistic Director Martin Berry, the production will run from 16 June to 4 July 2027, with a press night scheduled for 24 June 2027.
The new drama centres on Sutcliffe, the talented artist and original member of The Beatles who left the band before its rise to worldwide fame. The play explores both his relationship with John Lennon and his mother’s struggle to preserve the memory of her son beyond the legend that followed his untimely death at the age of 21.
The announcement follows Exeter Northcott Theatre’s return to producing its own work, building on a series of acclaimed in-house productions. Following its premiere in Exeter, Made in Liverpool is expected to tour nationally before a planned London transfer.
The production also forms part of the theatre’s 60th anniversary celebrations. Exeter Northcott Theatre opened in 1967, the same year The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, creating a fitting connection between the venue’s history and the story being told on its stage.
Writer Gerard McCarthy said: “When Stuart Sutcliffe quit the Beatles in 1961, nobody could have known they would become the most iconic band in music history. Fame, fortune, sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll might sound like the dream to most people, but Stuart had a dream of his own. What first drew me to this story was the nerve it took for him to choose his own future and what that choice meant for the people who’d imagined him in theirs. Made in Liverpool captures these young men when everything is still up for grabs: who they’ll become, where they’ll go and who’ll be beside them. The city’s blistering music scene sets the pace, and its signature wit, swagger and defiance run throughout the play as the boys find their own paths and discover they aren’t all heading in the same direction. Amid the conflict, humour and heartbreak, it’s Stuart’s tumultuous relationship with his mother and his toxic friendship with John Lennon that give the play its central question: what happens when the person you want beside you chooses a different life? How hard should you fight to keep them? And at what point does that stop being love?”
Director Martin Berry said: “We are not simply telling the story of a famous band before they were famous. We are entering a memory, and asking how myth forms around a young man whose life was cut short before he could define himself fully. The production will have huge heart, but it is not intended to be reverential. It will be full of friction, noise, tenderness, humour, theatrical surprise and dangerous energy.”
Robert Mackintosh, for Made in Liverpool Productions Ltd, said: “I was so intrigued by Stuart Sutcliffe’s biography, written by his sister Pauline together with author Douglas Thompson, that after we met and talked about Stuart’s extraordinary brief life, I was determined to turn it into a play. I was thrilled to get Gerard McCarthy to write the script, which perfectly captures the characters that would soon become the greatest pop band of our time. I was equally thrilled that Martin Berry shared our enthusiasm to direct the play at Exeter Northcott. Made In Liverpool tells it how it was”.
Julian Stoneman added: “In 1960, five young lads from Liverpool were preparing for their first gig with little more than their instruments and a belief in each other. Night after night they played, learned and grew, until they became something the world had never seen. We see that same spirit at the Northcott today. This team has worked tirelessly and believed wholeheartedly, and together they have brought the theatre back to making its own work. Made in Liverpool is about a young man who dared to follow his art, and it feels right that it begins here, in a theatre that has launched so many.”
Casting and the full creative team for Made in Liverpool will be announced at a later date.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
