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3 October 2012

Graduate's theatre debut in life of Brian

Will has major role in Beatles manager drama

Will Finlason

SCHOOL of Theatre graduate Will Finlason is set to make his professional stage debut in a new play about Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

Will plays the role of “This Boy”, the unnamed character who, in his quest to become a writer, manages to secure an informal interview with the rock legend, in Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles.

The play stars Coronation Street star Andrew Lancel in the lead role, and will be the first production – aptly – at the new Epstein Theatre in Liverpool when it opens on November 15th.

“He asks some very searching questions, the sort of questions every person would like to ask Brian Epstein,” says Will of his character.

Emotional torture

It took a month of auditions and three recalls for Will to secure the part – a process which he describes as “emotional torture”.

“You always say to yourself that you could handle the ‘no’s,” he says. “When I graduated this summer I had five or six auditions and they were all ‘no’s because it’s a risk hiring someone with no professional experience. But the second I read the script for this I felt really attached to it, so it was amazing when I got this after a month of emotional torture. It’s an incredible privilege.”

As a “half Liverpudlian” Beatles fan, Will was thrilled when he finally heard he had the part.

“It’s exciting, especially in the 50th anniversary of the Beatles and to be the first play at the new theatre – it’s a lot to take in. It’s an education – like a really good documentary you might see. I didn’t know much at all about Brian Epstein’s personal life, so I feel my role now is almost to educate people about his contribution to the Beatles, to Liverpool, to fashion and everything else he did.”

Rigorous process

Although this is his first professional performance, Will appeared in Carl Davis’ The Last Train To Tomorrow, which was produced by the Halle using students from the Manchester School of Theatre, and in several University production including Angels in America and Punk Rock, directed by Chris Honer.

Jen Heyes, co-creator and director of Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles, said: “I’m so delighted to have found Will after a rigorous and long audition process. The right man for the role needed to be not only a skilled actor but also a great guitarist and singer, and Will very much fits this criteria.

“From the start we wanted to discover an exciting new talent to play This Boy and with the play being a ‘two-hander’, it was vital for the actor to have good synergy with and complement Andrew Lancel as Brian Epstein. I certainly think we’ve found this in Will.”