Blood Brothers

Bonkers Theatrical’s latest production of “Blood Brothers the play” opened this evening in front of a sell-out house. The play is written by Willy Russell and tells the moving and captivating tale of twins who are separated at birth and grow up on opposite sides of the tracks; they meet again later with fateful consequences …

“Blood Brothers” has been brilliantly directed by Mark Walker. A great deal of thought has gone into this production with some very intelligent touches, like the single rose carefully placed on stage at the opening, the significance of which becomes apparent at the end; to the soft heart beat pulsing throughout the play that becomes quite chilling in the final scene. The play had a great pace too, with very slick scene changes. Well done Mark!
The casting of the seven characters was excellent. Leisa Cooke who played Mrs Johnstone brought real warmth to her role and made you feel real sympathy for her heartache in having to give up one of her twins. The role of Mrs Lyons was played by Jane Walker; she showed the contrast in character between the two women really well and totally shocks the audience in the final scene. Daniel Fortune was outstanding as Mickey creating real believability in Mickey as a seven year old right up to adulthood. Jake Stevens was excellent as Eddie and he showed the stark contrast in the upbringing of the twins perfectly. The role of the Narrator was brilliantly played by Alan Galway he set the mood of the play from the opening and sustained this throughout with at times quite chilling effect. Carly Walker played the role of Linda the character who both twins fall in love with; she too portrayed very well the young Linda through to adulthood with great believability. Bobby Mutch played Swing and showed his versatility in playing a variety of roles in quick succession. Well done to all the cast you all gave awesome performances!
The set for “Blood Brothers” was excellent and was very well-made and utilised. The props were good and also utilised well. The costumes were excellent and were all in keeping with the era. The lighting and sound quality was excellent throughout the performance and both were used to create atmosphere with great effect.
Congratulations to all at Bonkers Theatrical for an excellent and faultless opening night; you took the audience on a real roller-coaster of emotions with this amazing performance of “Blood Brothers”

CAROLINE JERVIS                                                                                                                                      NODA EAST MIDLANDS DISTRICT 7 REPRESENTATIVE.

I also thought I should include this note from Jacquie Stedman, who attended the show as NODA President - though I can't agree with her point about dead characters not being given a curtain call!

Alex Wood, Website Manager 

To the cast and company of ’Blood Brothers’,

I wanted to thank you for making David and I so welcome when we came to your production on Thursday.  We had an absolutely super evening and it was lovely to talk to you all afterwards  - I really appreciated your time…...it was such a warm evening and you must have been bursting for some liquid refreshment!!!!

This was such a mesmerising production with truly excellent performances. You had amazing talent within the cast and it was very obvious how much hard work had gone into creating really convincing characters. There were absolutely no weak links in this production and it was very clear how supportive you all are of one another.

Although this is fictional drama set some years ago, one could see how a situation like this could arise – we hear stories about twins being separated at birth, for whatever reason.  However, for me, it was all about how a secret impacts on the mental health and welfare of ordinary people and how keeping that secret ultimately destroys.  You all achieved this unravelling of people’s lives with sensitivity and observation.  I also thought that the ‘curtain calls’ were absolutely ‘spot on’……corpses don’t get up and take a bow!!!!!

I wish you all continued success in your unusual and delightful theatre.

Jacquie x

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