Invited Review by Stephen Stokoe – Photo credit: DJTPhotography
What can I say about Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers that has not been said before? Well I will have a good go. This is a musical; and it isn’t. I would probably. more accurately, describe it as a play with songs and music. Even then, it is so much more. It is a politically charged drama. It is a socially aware commentary of its time. It certainly tugs at every emotion you care to invest in it.
For anyone who is unaware of the story, it concerns much danced-out mother of several, Mrs Johnstone, who, finding herself pregnant again, this time with twins, enters into a bargain with the more affluent Mrs Lyons, to give one of her twins away. Unaware of their parentage, the two boys keep meeting and form a life-long friendship and all the hustle and bustle that friendships tend to entail including girls, jealousy and all the rest of it.
Mrs Johnstone (Vivenne Carlyle) carries act one before handing over to the younger generation in the second act of the story. Carlyle plays a much more understated Mrs Johnston than I have seem previously and this works very well for me. I really bought into her downtrodden, tired mother along with a much more level-headed Mrs Lyons (Sarah Jane Buckley) who was definitely not played as the villain in this production. There was a sensitivity and realness about both the women in the first half that lent a more realistic telling of the story than I have seen previously.
Blood Brothers would be as naught without the boys and taking on these iconic roles were Sean Jones as Mickey and Joe Sleight as the upwardly mobile Edward. The first time I saw Blood Brothers was back at the end of the eighties in London when the role of Mickey was played by the immensely talented Con O’Neill and the best compliment I can pay to Jones is that I could see O’Neill’s Mickey coursing through his veins. Sleight was equally convincing as the posh boy, Eddie and his dressage motif was just as hilarious tonight as when I first saw it.
The lighting (Nick Richings) and set (Andy Walmsley) were particularly effective when combined. The band, led by Matt Malone, was brilliant but for me a little quiet in places. I want to feel the rumble at the start suck through my toes to fill me with that foreboding as the vocals humming the refrain from ‘Tell Me It’s Not True’ add to the suspense. The sound, in general, for me, could have been cranked up a couple of notches.
It is not for no reason that Blood Brothers is called ‘The Standing Ovation Musical’ and it got a very well deserved one this evening. I am going to select a star of the night and it is one well deserved for an actor who played no fewer than three parts if not a few more. He is also a stalwart of the stage and screen. Step forward Mr Graeme Kinniburgh. His comic timing tonight was outstanding.
Blood Brothers tours seemingly endlessly and I, for one, will never tire of watching this incredible production. It plays at Darlington Hippodrome until Saturday 16th November.