Theatre Review: ‘Blood Brothers’ (Tour)

Willy Russell’s 1983 hit is back on tour. The show is the tale of twin brothers separated at birth whose lives and deaths are indelibly entwined with each other. Mrs. Johnstone had the looks of Marilyn Monroe and was swept off her feet by her Jack the lad husband who l liked to take her dancing, but soon bailed out on her and his growing family. Left destitute and desperate to make ends meet Mrs. Johnstone took a cleaning job at the Lyon’s house. Here she made a pact to give away one of her unborn children so that so that she can keep her other 7 children with her.

Sammy (Daniel Taylor) is an older brother who has perfected spitting at his enemies and wees on sweets. He is a little dangerous and deranged as a result of being dropped on his head as a baby. Micky (Alexander Patmore) who is nearly eight is the cheeky, grubby streetwise kid who can’t wait to be like his older brother and loves spending his time playing cowboys and Indians, slowly morphs into a gauche teenager and finally descends into depression and being reliant on prescription drugs.  Mickey’s life is forever entwined with his twin due to circumstances beyond his control. Mrs Lyons (Paula Tappenden) who employed Mrs. Johnstone cannot cope with the fear of loosing this longed for child and turns into a neurotic overprotective mother to Eddie (Joel Benedict). Eddie is a fresh faced scrubbed up young man who has the looks and mannerisms afforded to him because of his class and parental expectation. He evolves into a young man who wants to do the right thing becoming a town councilor and trying to help his childhood friends. Linda (Danielle Corlass) is the dependable girl next door who grew up adoring Mikey and later Eddie and is absolutely convincing as a despairing wife and mother.

Mrs Johnstone (Lyn Paul) is a dowdy worn out mother who has found life tough raising her family single handedly, Both Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons are reminded of the consequences of their decisions as they are haunted by the narrator (Robbie Scotcher) who appears in doorways and at windows voicing their inner fears and superstitions. 

It is an enthralling show to watch as the lives of the twins appear to be continually drawn together no matter what is done to separate them.  There are light-hearted moments and times when the audience is sat on the edge of their seats with the expectation of what will happen next. There is the odd twist which makes the audience jump, it is an emotional roller coaster of a story and one that still impacts today with a solid tale, great cast and excellent music.  

The scenery is a simple street of terraces housed, occasionally it is hard to appreciate the difference from the good and the less desirable end of town, and perhaps more could be done to differentiate the outsides of the homes both in the town and countryside. The lighting is used to great dramatic effect, highlighting the cast as the narrator tells his tales.

This is an emotional roller coaster of a show it has great highs and lows and received a standing ovation at the end of the night by the whole theatre. I would recommend this as a fantastic evenings entertainment.