Blood Brothers

“Did you ever hear the tale of the Johnston Twins?” The gripping story of Blood Brothers
revolves around a lie between two women: Mrs Lyons, who cannot have any children and
Mrs Johnston who has so many children, the authorities are threatening to remove some
from her care. Mrs Johnston inevitably falls pregnant again (this time with twins) and makes
a pact with Mrs Lyons to hand over one of the twins upon their birth. An oath is sworn that
they will never know about each-others existence, if they did ever find out, they would both
die.
Under the Tower Drama Group delivered this story to the audience with skill and
professionalism. From the outset the mood was set by The Narrator, Robin Hillman. The
Narrator is a very serious and dark role in Blood Brothers which Robin navigated with skill.
Robin also changed his “Hat” from narrator to Milkman, Policeman and even a
Gynaecologist, which delighted the audience with some humour.
Mrs Johnston was ably played by Claire Henson who created a believable hard-up mother of
9. Claire had a great rapport with her fellow actors, and this showed with the way she
portrayed the love for her children. Vicki Roberts played Mrs Lyons well and her portrayal of
Mrs Lyons’ gradual onset of mental health issues and paranoia were emotional to watch.
The twins themselves were brought to life by Stuart Maher who played Mickey and Andy
Richards who played Eddie. The audience really got a sense that the pair were enjoying
themselves on stage as the boys grew up as friends and showed a bond between them. As
the twins grew, Stuart and Andy were able to show how their upbringings differed and how
their characters matured. Including their shared love for Linda, played by Karen Croshaw.
Karen played Linda with gusto and flirted with the boys perfectly! Her portrayal of Linda was
brilliant, and her facial expressions never ceased to make me smile.
The set was excellently built, well-lit and used the stage well. After the show, I was shown
around backstage and was amazed at how small the stage was, but this didn’t show from an
audience point of view as the scenery - designed by Dave Lawrence – filled the space
artfully.

In all, I had a very enjoyable evening in Earls Barton and congratulate Under the Tower
Drama group on a very successful production.

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