Made in Liverpool: Stuart Sutcliffe’s Story Comes to Exeter Northcott in World Premiere

By Grace Hatchell

There’s a danger with being called the “fifth Beatle”: folk remember the number and forget the person. Stuart Sutcliffe was an artist, a son and a young man with ambitions of his own. Now a new play is asking audiences to look beyond that famous label. I reckon there’s a story worth opening the satchel for.

Made in Liverpool, written by Gerard McCarthy and directed by Exeter Northcott’s Artistic Director Martin Berry, will have its world premiere at Exeter Northcott Theatre from 16 June to 4 July 2027.

At its heart is Stuart, who died aged just 21, and his mother’s struggle to remember her son as the person she knew, rather than the legend that grew around him. Behind a name recognised by music fans is a family trying to hold on to someone they loved. That’s a different sort of weight to carry.

McCarthy’s play catches the young Beatles before their futures were settled, when friendship, ambition and the Liverpool music scene were pulling them towards possibilities they couldn’t yet imagine. Stuart left the band in 1961 to follow his own artistic path. We know what happened to The Beatles afterwards, of course. He didn’t have that luxury when he made his choice.

I find that a particularly interesting starting point. It’s easy to judge a decision when you’ve already read the ending. Rather harder when you’re young, everyone’s got an opinion and you’re trying to work out which future actually belongs to you.

McCarthy describes a play driven by Liverpool’s wit, swagger and defiance, with conflict, humour and heartbreak woven through it. Stuart’s turbulent relationship with his mother and what the writer describes as his toxic friendship with John Lennon sit at its centre.

The questions are uncomfortable ones: what happens when somebody you want beside you chooses another life? How hard do you fight to keep them close? And when does that determination stop being love? Enough there to keep a conversation going well beyond the interval, I’d say.

Berry promises a production with heart, friction, noise, tenderness and dangerous energy. His approach explores how memories become myths around someone who died before he had the chance to define himself fully. From that description, I wouldn’t expect this to sit politely behind glass like a treasured piece of memorabilia.

The production is presented by Exeter Northcott Theatre alongside Julian Stoneman and Robert Mackintosh for Made in Liverpool Productions Ltd. Mackintosh’s interest began with Stuart’s biography, written by his sister Pauline Sutcliffe with Douglas Thompson, and led to his determination to bring the story to the stage.

For Stoneman, who began his career at the Northcott, the premiere also brings a professional connection full circle. It follows the theatre’s return to producing its own work, giving this story about a young man pursuing his art a fitting first home.

There’s an anniversary connection tucked into the envelope, too. Exeter Northcott opened in 1967, the same year The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Made in Liverpool arrives during the theatre’s 60th anniversary year in 2027. A Liverpool story beginning its stage life in Devon, with a little shared history between them.

Following the Exeter premiere, the producers intend to take the play to other UK venues ahead of a London transfer. Further dates and venues are still to be announced, along with casting and the remaining creative team.

Made in Liverpool runs at Exeter Northcott Theatre from 16 June to 4 July 2027, with press night on 24 June. Evening performances are listed at 7pm, with matinees on 19 June and 3 July at 2pm, and a final performance on 4 July at 3pm. Check the booking schedule for individual performance dates.

Standard tickets start at £19. Members’ booking opens on 19 October 2026, followed by public booking on 20 October. Book through the Exeter Northcott Theatre website or call 01392 726363.

The age guidance is 14+, with content guidance covering swearing, violence and death.

I’ll be interested to see how this one unfolds. Stuart Sutcliffe has spent a long time being introduced through the band he left. Here’s a play giving audiences the chance to meet the young man who chose to go his own way.