EPSTEIN – THE MAN WHO MADE THE BEATLES
PLAYWRIGHT: Andrew Sherlock
DIRECTOR: Fred Abrahamse
CAST: Nicholas Pauling (Brian Epstein), Sven Ruygrok (This Boy)
VENUE: Studio Theatre, Montecasino
UNTIL: September 27
RATING: ****
Who WAs Brian Epstein? Or perhaps, preferably, what did he do? Well, as the title suggests, he was the man who made The Beatles, a group who seeped into the bloodstream of a generation and still have an impact on popular music today.
But that’s not why the story is told. It’s about the man who understood their talent and without any experience of the music business, apart from a gift to pick performers with the IT factor, which was why The Beatles became who they were.
He knew what he heard, experienced and how it would transcend beyond just the music – and then he was left behind even though everyone knew he was the power behind the throne. But that’s just it.
He was the outsider, the man people knew about and who pulled the strings especially at the start when nobody knew what these four Liverpool lads would achieve, but once they hit US shores, their fame shot through the strato-sphere. No one had experienced this kind of madness and perhaps knew what to make of it.
The play is driven by the story of this man’s life, the one who spotted four boys and realised they were special, but the power is in the writing and the performances.
A young man (“this boy, that boy, nowhere man” is how he describes himself) is brought home by Epstein who, according to his own words, made a habit of bringing beautiful young men to his home, but the tables are turned and the young man demands his own pound of flesh.
To tell more would be to spoil the story because it is one to experience. There’s lots of Beatles’ background and references and the songs picked are perfect, if not that well pitched. There needs to be better integration if only from a technical perspective. It’s too abrupt and needs to blend into the text more smoothly.
Not so with the actors. Even though this is the kind of play which will grow with every performance because of its density and demand on the two actors, they’re already pushing hard and fleshing out the story.
As the pretty boy, Ruygrok brings all the energy demanded as he walks into this encounter with a plan in hand. This is much more than just someone who can rely on his looks. He has a mission and is determined to dive into this assignment he has set for himself with everything he has at his disposal.
Pauling works sweetly on the crescendo of his performance as Epstein drinks and swallows pills at the rate of knots. He starts off mild and gently mannered, but as his story is pulled out of him, it unleashes a furious passion of someone who has much to say, but is never asked.
The two work in tandem smartly and all the rough edges will disappear as the performances are pummeled with every bout in what Pauling calls “a boxing match”. He’s right. The text is wonderfully wordy as they banter about a time, people and place that might be in the past, but also plays into the present in a world that has become all about performance and those that are noticed. It pulls you into the heart of the vortex of these men who both have their own agendas that tell a tale of trying to live a life.
It’s gripping theatre.