Blood Brothers

Willy Russell's play ‘Blood Brothers’, written in 1986, went on to spawn the West End musical of the same name, both versions are fast moving, perceptive, entertaining, thought provoking and funny, yet ultimately tragic.  With such a superb catalogue of first-rate popular theatre behind him, which includes ‘Educating Rita’ and ‘Shirley Valentine’, it is desperately sad that his creative well appears to have run dry, however, I have no doubt that ‘Blood Brothers’ is the peak of Russell’s career, though surprisingly, we’re still hanging on for a film adaptation!

The Director, Barbara Turner, had opted for a minimalist set for this production, which certainly does work for this piece, however, you’d expect with the simplicity of its staging to aid speed to the set changes though sadly this was not the case, it did feel, at times, as though we were waiting too long for the simplest transition to be made.

Always lurking in the shadows is the Narrator (Joe Cramsie) who, be he fate, conscience or the Devil himself, is an ever menacing presence and constant reminder that the show is on a crash course for a tragic climax.

Grainne Wiggan gave us a worthy interpretation of Mrs Lyons that gripped with its emotional truth from the start and never loosened its grip, a very enjoyable performance.  Mrs Johnson was played by a warm hearted Diane Hatton who delivered both tenderness and comedy to good effect. This is a role which requires many qualities from its actress and Diane certainly delivered the more forthright of those qualities, we could have afforded for the anguish to be exposed deeper and I felt her characterisation could have demonstrated her social status further.

Through the span of the play, we see the two Johnston twins, Eddie and Micky grow up. The adult actors who play these parts start at seven years old and finish, with their gruesome fate, in their mid/late twenties, this poses a challenge for the actors who have to convince the audience of their age and also poses a strain for the Director to be able to cast and work with such actors in order to pull this off. 

Adult actors playing children can very easily cross-the-line and present a slightly over the top performance looking quite excessive and farfetched.  Both Dave Mallen (Micky) and Jeff Herpin (Eddie) delivered performances which demonstrated the capability of their acting skills, however, as an audience member it was a challenge at times to believe it. Both actors delivered the comedy just as brilliantly as they brought grit and presented the assets you’d expect from each of the twins. 

Certain members of the cast did require a few prompts on the night I attended which is always a shame.

This piece certainly grabs your attention and the book alone keeps you gripped and focused on what is going to occur next, who’d have thought that telling us the outcome of the play at the beginning would have such an effect, a trait not exactly inspired by Agatha Christie but nevertheless, a great choice of play to present in such an intimate setting which was certainly well received.

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