John, Paul, George, Ringo…and Bert — the Musical Celebrating The Beatles That The Beatles Had No Love For
In 1974 a smash-hit musical about The Beatles began in Liverpool. It broke box-office records, but some of The Beatles were none too pleased with it.
The Everyman Theatre was based in Liverpool’s Hope Street. Originally known as the Hope Hall, it was formerly a dissenters’ chapel, then an arts cinema before, in 1964, it became a theatre and performance space. Unlike the city’s other big theatre, the Playhouse, where actors got the first train back to London, the Everyman’s performers stayed in the city and hung out at the venue. It was very consciously a community space. It was also a place where, as Joe Riley in the Liverpool Echo put it, “You were as likely to encounter a rat as an acquaintance on the first night.”
Despite the theatre’s shabby appearance, writers and performers of the city embraced it. “We really believed we could change things with our work and make things better,” artistic director Alan Dossor told Radio 4’s The Reunion in 2004. Dossor took on his position in 1970, coming with a reputation for committing to radical causes. “We were trying to get a young, articulate, working class audience,” he said.
