Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 27th January 2024
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
5*****
I narrowly missed seeing Blood Brothers last year so was looking forward to tonight’s performance with great anticipation. The story revolves around a poor mother being in such dire straits that she’s talked into giving one of her newborn twins away. The twins grow up in very different worlds (one rich and one in poverty) but those worlds intersect often as, at the age of nearly 8, they become best friends.
Niki Colwell Evans, playing the twin’s mother Mrs Johnstone, was absolutely sensational. A beautiful singing voice which conveyed every emotion in full straight into ones heart plus acting that was the equal to that incredible voice – she was totally convincing in this marvellous role.
The twins, Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie (Joe Sleight), were astonishingly different and utterly believable, both individually and as a pair. Mickey’s descent was especially compelling and was a sobering reminder of the old adage “there but for the grace of God…”. Linda (Gemma Brodrick) had a pivotal role in the life of the twins and she was simply scintillating on stage. The sheer energy these performers needed to portray the childhood years was staggering – physicality is one thing but the emotional energy needed for act 2 alone must really take its toll! I know it did on me just watching it.
I’ll quickly mention the costumes which deserve a lot of credit for setting the era (and, by extension, showing time passing) and also for highlighting the difference in social classes. In this case clothes do maketh the men (and women).
I was deeply impressed that the book, music and lyrics were all written by Willy Russell. An incredible feat as the tunes are real ear worms. But it’s not just great tunes; there’s a unity throughout the score so I can totally understand why it is billed in the programme as “a Liverpudlian folk opera”. It’s more than just your average musical.
Mrs Lyons (Sarah Jane Buckley) and the Narrator (Scott Anson) are worthy of special mention for outstanding performances although, in reality, the entire cast were superb and all added much to the spectacle.
The word “masterpiece” is sometimes liberally thrown around but Willy Russell deserves the accolade for this work. Sadly, the theme of poverty and desperation are just as familiar today – during yet another cost of living crisis – as it was back in the early 80’s. What a sad indictment that is. This is undoubtedly the most powerful musical I’ve ever seen. There’s such honesty and logical integrity here that it’s a painful watch at times, being so brutally honest – but there’s also a lorra lorra laughs (as Cilla would say) from start to finish.
Sometimes a performance ends with you standing dumbfounded and lost for words. This was one of those nights. During the encore the cast all looked totally drained with much puffing of cheeks. If they enjoyed themselves on stage only half as much as we did then they will also have had a fantastic night. I cannot recommend Blood Brothers highly enough. 5 stars does not do it justice. My new guilty pleasure? Not at all – I’m not feeling in the least bit guilty about totally loving it!