All you need is a ticket as Beatles film takes to the stage

Published on Sunday 4 October 2009 22:15

A FILM recreating the early days of the Beatles has been adapted for the theatre, and is set to be staged in Scotland.

Backbeat, which tells the story of the band's experiences in Hamburg, Germany is on the bill at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow next February.

The play has been adapted by Iain Softley, who directed the original film in 1994.

Stephen Dorff played Stuart Sutcliffe, the band's original bass player, in the film, which was based on his relationship with a local photographer, Astrid Kirchherr.

Mr Softley said: "When I was making the film, I was also visualising a theatre production of Backbeat, where Stu's dramatic paintings and Astrid's stunning photography could be woven into the narrative along with great live music."

Sutcliffe, who was at Liverpool College of Art with John Lennon, stayed behind in Germany with Kirchherr when the rest of the band returned to Liverpool, and died in 1962 before Beatlemania took off.