Blood Brothers The Play

Blood Brothers is fairly well known and well loved for its heart wrenching story so I was not surprised to see a packed audience at All Saint`s Elton (Bury) `s performance of Blood Brothers The Play. We entered to an open stage set visually split into two halves, a grafittied brick wall and step, a coat hook and an open doorway on one side while on the other plain white decorated walls, a, picture hung , a hall table with a rotary phone, two straight backed dining chairs, a plant in a plant stand, an open doorway, the two sides looked very much worlds apart. The whole set was flooded in a cold blue light. No microphones are used in this performance space as they are not necessary , instead it is all down to projection. I am pleased to note that all the actors vocal projections were good and every word could be heard. The lighting changed well within the scenes and added some good atmosphere and drama, I would have liked to see a little bit more dramatic lighting for the final scene but i acknowledge that we are not in a traditional theatre with various lights and effects at one`s fingertips.

Mrs. Johnston played by Laura Thompson was for me a little too glamourous looking to be the downtrodden ,world weary cleaning lady - perhaps a hankerchief in her hair, rollers or a home made cross over pinny might have helped to" rough her up " a bit (horribly  stereotypical I know , but it is all about the initial visual). Her characterisation was good , we could see her anguish about parting her twins and giving away one of her boys . Her love for her boy she kept was evident , the guilt scene was a little safe , she was perhaps just a little bit too controlled . She had a good rapport on stage with Mrs Lyons played by Olivia Kershaw, they got across the difference in class system quite well. Olivia certainly looked the part of the cold hearted, desparate woman , I would have liked to have seen her characterisation a little bit more controlled, quiet, calm and chilling instead of on the edge all the time - it would have added a lot more depth to her character and also added more drama and tension  for the final scene with the shooting. Martin Wadsworth as The Narrator was excellent, he was dramatic with tone and intonation, his sombre delivery and timing was spot on - Well Done! Chris White as Mickey and Matthew Fleming as Eddie had some super chemistry on stage , they had strong characterisations as carefree children and then teenagers with their different worlds stretched out in front of them. Their accents stayed true and diction was good . Their different views towards love and the  showing of affection due to their different upbringing was depicted well by both of them. The love triangle with Linda (Charlotte Crowley) unfolded well - from childhood into adulthood with all the aded pressures. All three were very committed to their characters and I saw the angst and conflict in the various scenes from all of them . All three did a great job without going over the top. The pace of the play was good and the scenes segued well but in my opinion the dramatic timing within some of the scenes was just  a little off but that`s me being picky. 

Blood Brothers is a huge play to take on as a director because everyone has their own opinion on it , Well Done All Saint`s Elton (Bury) for stepping out and tackling it , you did a good job. Myself and my guest enjoyed the performance and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon. 

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