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Blood Brothers
Belgrade Theatre
***** FOR thirty-odd years Blood Brothers has
taken the whole world by storm. It started as a the kernel of an idea about a
mother choosing one twin over the other and bringing that twin up in a
completely different environment; a kind of nature/nurture social
experiment. Mrs Johnstone (Lyn Paul) is the central
character, mother to nine children in what we would now call a
Just-About-Managing family in a deprived area of Liverpool. She is wonderful – and I’ve seen Barbara Dixon,
Kiki Dee, the Nolans, missed Mel C sadly and the most recent Mrs
Johnstones. She plays her with less rant and rave, more
subtlety when faced with the outcome of her promise to give one of her
twins to the childless lady of the ‘big house’ Mrs Lyons (Sarah Jane
Buckley) for whom she cleans. So Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie (Mark
Hutchinson) go their separate ways until they are seven and meet
accidentally – to become Blood Brothers. All attempts to separate them
come to nothing and they become closer and closer. The bond straddles
class and opportunity. Dean Chisnall as narrator delivers the tragic
undertow of the story and a sense of foreboding like a Greek chorus. It
is riddled with superstition but the light moments provide an escape –
particularly the children playing in the street where we first meet
Linda (played for this performance by Alison Crawford). As they grow up, her love of Mickey develops, but
Mickey’s depression, anger and brushes with the law make her choose to
be a girl again in the arms of the now successful politician Eddie. The songs are wonderful
too, for example Tell Me It’s Not True,
Easy Terms
are all written by Willy Russell as well. As you’ve noticed I’ve seen
this production over and over again very happily and each time a
different song sticks in my mind. This time it was a quiet song from
Mickey about lazy and lonely Long
Sunday Afternoons, joined by Eddie. A
mournful saxophone and a sloping stage shiny with wet-look paint that
looks like a rainy day adds to the melancholy. Directed by Bill Kenwright, this is a wonderful,
slick production not creaking with age but honed to perfection. The
packed audience was on their feet before the final notes. Please go see.
To 11-03-17 Jane Howard 06-03-17 |
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