THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
By Tom Wright
Kiln Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 7JR until May 29, 2026
While much has been written and filmed about The Beatles, and indeed Sam Mendes multi part Apple movie is currently in production, less has been heard about their great manager and Svengali Brian Epstein. Dubbed the Fifth Beatle, he died at 32 in 1967, barely five years after he’d first signed them. Without him, arguably, they would never have broken through.
Tom Wright has rightly thrown the spotlight on Epstein a fascinating character whose inner life could never be acknowledged at the time and who suffered the double whammy of prejudice then by being both gay and Jewish.
Here Calam Lynch (from the Irish Cusack acting dynasty) delivers a bravura performance taking us from his callow youth helping out at NEMS, the family record store, to international Beatlemania, and being the most in-demand manager in the business.
From the moment Epstein spotted the band in the Cavern Club he connected, particularly with John Lennon, who teased his poshness. Here Noah Rutter gives a great showboat performance capturing the caustic wit, sharp intelligence and sexual swagger of the young star. He’s the only Beatle we meet. A holiday in Torremolinos ‘a deux’ was probably a misstep by Epstein but was taken by John as a chance to loosen up the friend he had affection for (they were very alike) and it forms the focal point of the play.
Lynch, a rising TV and film star who also has a charismatic stage presence, gives a wonderfully layered performance as Epstein and in the Spain scenes beautifully embodies the tortured soul of the man, torn between trying to keep professional distance, control his own sexual desire and respond to Lennon’s flirty games.
Success inevitably brought largesse, decadence and insane levels of pressure for Epstein which he tried to alleviate with the bottle and burying his pain in the arms of dubious ‘rent’ like the predatory, blond, American, hotel pick-up Rizz. William Robinson displays great versatility as Rizz while also playing two of the earlier lovers.
The always reliable Eleanor Worthington-Cox nearly steals the show from the boys, playing not just Cynthia Lennon but also Lennon’s crafty Aunt Mimi, who Epstein has to woo to get the boys signed, and in a great impersonation, Cilla Black, the only other artist Epstein agreed to sign and who became his friend and confidante – she does a brilliant ‘You’re My World’. Arthur Wilson fills out the cast by playing three authority figures in Epstein’s life, including his Dad.
Amit Sharma (Kiln’s artistic director) directs and gives the piece great dynamism, aided by Tom Piper’s beautifully evocative designs which take us from Liverpool record stores to vast American hotel suites sheathed in voluminous white drapes. The costumes also perfectly detail the journey from sharp suits (Epstein’s idea for the boys to make them appear respectable) to the psychedelic bright colors of the ‘Summer of Love’ era.
Wright covers the territory really well in a short piece, however he’s at his weakest with dialogue which, particularly early on, is too schematic and has the whiff of documentary narration. He does however engage us emotionally in the end, thanks to the talents of this great cast. The piece could benefit from expansion though, and a larger cast, and it has the makings of a great film.
In August ’67 Epstein’s management contract with the boys was about to expire and he believed would not be renewed. At the time he was found dead they had seemingly declared their independence by adopting a very different mentor, the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, so one can assume how devastated Epstein must have felt.
John’s response when told the news of Epstein’s death: “We’re fucked then”. He was not wrong.
