The fascinating story of Cynthia Lennon returns to the Liverpool stage this November, as acclaimed local production This Girl – The Cynthia Lennon Story comes to The Capstone Theatre!
Liverpool’s connection with The Beatles has been explored countless times over the decades, but This Girl tells the story from a very different perspective — that of Cynthia Powell, the Hoylake girl who met a young John Lennon at Liverpool Art College and found herself caught up in one of the biggest cultural phenomena the world has ever seen.
The stage musical comes to The Capstone Theatre on Friday 20th November 2026 at 7.30pm, with a matinee and evening show on Saturday 21st November, and features a host of talented young actors. Written by local playwright Mike Howl, with original music from Merseybeat musician and broadcaster Frankie Connor, This Girl explores love, friendship and survival against the backdrop of Liverpool’s extraordinary musical history.
Long before Beatlemania changed popular culture forever, Cynthia Powell was an art student from Hoylake. She met John Lennon while they were studying at Liverpool Art College, beginning a relationship that would ultimately place her at the heart of The Beatles story. The pair married in 1962 and had their son Julian the following year. But This Girl isn’t simply another retelling of the rise of The Beatles. Instead, Cynthia takes centre stage.
The production explores the woman behind the famous surname and follows the relationships, friendships and challenges that shaped her life. It also features Cynthia’s friendship with Phyllis and John’s sometimes awkward friendship with fellow art student and early Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe. At its heart is a very human story about young people falling in love and trying to find their way through a world that was about to change beyond recognition.
This Girl itself has now become part of Liverpool’s Beatles theatre story. We first featured the production back in 2019, when it appeared at The Hope Street Theatre during International Beatle Week. That original run attracted attention well beyond Liverpool, with the production receiving coverage from The Guardian and BBC Breakfast.
Playwright Mike Howl said: “I developed the story following extensive research and conversations with people who were close to Cynthia. The show combines drama and original music to follow Cynthia’s emotional journey through the early days in Liverpool and the extraordinary circumstances that followed. The feedback from previous productions has been incredible and I’m excited to be bringing it back.”
Now, seven years after those 2019 performances, This Girl is returning to a Liverpool stage. With Mike Howl’s original script and Frankie Connor’s music, the captivating production revisits one of Liverpool’s most famous periods through the eyes of somebody who actually lived it. For Beatles fans, local history enthusiasts and theatre lovers alike, it offers an opportunity to discover the story behind one of the less frequently heard voices in the Beatles story.
This Girl: The Cynthia Lennon Story / The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool Hope University Creative Campus, 17 Shaw Street, Liverpool, L6 1HP / Friday 20th November 2026, 7.30pm
