With a West End run extending to 24 years and a touring history that makes it a more or less permanent feature of the theatrical landscape, I am almost ashamed to say this is the first time I’ve ever seen Blood Brothers. Maybe I’ve been seduced by too many glittering spectacles and so never felt drawn to this tragic tale of separated twins set in depressed Liverpool, where one child stays in poverty and the other is unofficially adopted and enjoys a life of comfort and privilege.
As a piece, it’s undoubted power is in the story and the writing. Yes, it’s a proper musical, not a play with songs. But, at least for me, the music is out-shone by the brilliance of the lyrics and the dramatic power of the story. Beginning with twins already dead, the destination is grimly established at the outset. So every light moment as we join with Mickey and Eddie on their journey from infants to grown men is tinged, but not overshadowed, with what we know is to come. Scott Anson as the narrator ensures the fate of our heroes is never far from our minds. Indeed his presence is something of a ghost at the feast and Anson’s performance is both powerful and unnerving.
It must be a thrill for the actors playing the twins to be able to flex their thespian muscles so fully as they bring Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie (Joe Sleight) vividly to life from naive seven year old best friends to mature and complicated adults. The drivers for the story, though, are the female characters. Birth mother Mrs Johnstone (Niki Colwell Evans) is forced into making a Sohpie’s Choice-like decision to allow one her twins to be brought up by her employer, Mrs Lyons (Sarah Jane Buckley). This simple act leaves neither woman truly happy. Mrs Johnstone still struggles to survive even with only one extra mouth to feed instead of two. And Mrs Lyons lives with constant doubt about whether her ‘son’ really, truly loves her as a mother. Niki Colwell Evans gets to play-out her emotions largely through song, and delivers powerfully. Author Willy Russell has traditionally cast singers in this role rather than actors and you can see why.
It’s rare for a musical to be as captivating as Blood Brothers. But the story draws you into the lives of these two boys and those around them. It transports you as only theatre can which explains its enduring appeal and, as such, is a rare experience, not to be missed.
Blood Brothers is at Orchard West Theatre until Saturday 6 April 2024 then continues on tour.
Sue In The Stalls 