LIPA Acting Students to Star in This Girl: The Cynthia Lennon Story
Tuesday 31 March 2026
Two LIPA third-year acting students will be performing in This Girl: The Cynthia Lennon Story this May.
Bethany Thomas and Harry Way, who are both in the final year of their Acting (Screen & Digital) course, will be playing the roles of Cynthia Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, respectively, at the Capstone Theatre on 29 and 30 of May. “The play covers the emotional journey of Cynthia's life before, during and after Beatlemania,” says Harry, “it spreads light on Cynthia and John's relationship and aspects that potentially haven't had their voice”.
“Originally I was auditioning for a different show altogether,” said Bethany, “then they mentioned that there was something else they were considering me for, and all of a sudden I was playing Cynthia”. On playing the lead role in the production, she added that “Cynthia Lennon is so often just dismissed as ‘John’s first wife’, so it’s an honour to be able to tell her side of The Beatles story, which she was such a huge part of.”
Harry’s role as Stuart Sutcliffe has a unique connection to LIPA. Sutcliffe was a close friend of Lennon’s, performing together as The Quarrymen and the earlier incarnation of The Beatles, and the pair met while studying at Liverpool College of Art in the 1950s, in the building which is now part of LIPA’s campus. “It’s lovely to show Stuart and John’s relationship, it was so formative because it was really the precursor to John’s relationship with Paul McCartney,” Harry observes. “It shows a different side to him that we don’t ever really get to see, before all the fame and success with The Beatles that transformed his life.”
The production gives both actors the chance to step into a different type of performance. “We’re really thrilled to be doing it, we both study on the Screen and Digital course, so to be working on a theatre production is a really exciting new challenge for both of us. It might be a bit scary, but that’s what this industry is all about!”
Both actors also credit their time at LIPA with helping them prepare for opportunities like this. “LIPA really helped me with the marketing side of acting and building a personal brand,” Bethany explains. “They’ve really supported me in how I present myself to the industry to give me the best chance of getting great roles like this.”
Harry agrees, adding that “LIPA do a really great job of providing opportunities to us while we’re studying here. There are so many jobs they ask students to do when they can, or things they put us forward for externally, and it’s nice to know that the school is really thinking about our future beyond graduation”.
