Director: Alan Dossor
Writer: Willy Russell
Composer: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Set Design: Graham Barkworth
Costume Design: Sandra A. Hemingway
Music performed by Barbara Dickson
Cast
John Lennon: Bernard Hill |
Reviews and Quotes
“Why has no-one done it before? Perhaps only a scouser like Willy Russell could have the self confidence to tackle Liverpool’s great phenomenon…it’s funny, incisive, well-acted and makes its points without any arty philosophising….The four Beatles do not sing and play on stage. Instead the band proceeds to play Beatles songs taken out of chronological order to interpret the action as it moves along. The clever effect is of the Beatles being almost out of control of their own material, having their songs thrown back at them as an ironic comment on their lives."
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Dusty Hughes, Time Out 2-8/8/74
“There’s a couple of expressions that I know are convincing to an audience but they probably wouldn’t be convincing to me if I’d seen myself do them in a mirror. We give people enough clues, like glasses for Lennon in my case, and the nose in Ringo’s case, and then what happens is that the audience does the rest. We try to create an image for the audience to grab hold of – and then let them add on."
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Bernard Hill, Plays and Players, September 74
"The production is clearly influenced by Joan Littlewood – which is not a bad thing and although the play is no Oh What a Lovely War, it’s good to see perhaps Liverpool has something to learn from London after all. The surprise of the evening is Barbara Dickson who plays the piano and sings…Miss Dickson sings in a voice of slate and marble, brass and fire. It’s the voice of the Liverpool kop, it’s a voice in love with what it sings, a voice made for singing."
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Barry Took, Punch 28/8/74