Blood Brothers Review

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I’d heard good things about Blood Brothers, and having missed it the last time it visited the Regent Theatre in Hanley, I was determined to see it this time around. Having never read the book or been introduced to anything else about the story, I was excited as I always love to see a production with a fresh perspective, with nothing to make comparisons with. It enables me to judge it on its merits alone.

Set in the 1960’s, Blood Brothers, a musical by Liverpudlian playwright Willy Russell, revolves around twin boys Mickey (Sean Jones) and Edward (Jay Worley) born into a poor family and separated at birth, brought up in completely different social environments in the city. Social status stories are a speciality for Willy Russell, given that he wrote Blood Brothers hot off the heels of the hugely successful “Educating Rita”.

Mickey is brought up with his seven older siblings by his struggling single mother, Mrs Johnstone (Niki Colwell Evans).

Meanwhile his brother Edward is brought up as the only child of the wealthy Lyons family, Mrs Johnstone’s employers who live nearby, after Mrs Lyons (Paula Tappenden) persuaded Mrs Johnstone to hand over one of her twins at birth. Mrs Johnstone couldn’t afford to keep both children, and Mrs Lyons wasn’t able to conceive a child of her own, so the agreement seems beneficial to both at first. That is until Mickey and Edward meet each other at the age of seven years old and immediately become best friends and “blood brothers”.

However, as they get older, the huge difference in their backgrounds pulls them apart, and earlier superstitions prove to be true. Written at a time when huge changes in society and politics were taking place, Blood Brothers is a essentially a story about social class, inequality, superstition and fate.

The cast were superb, with some of them playing their characters from the age of 7 through to adulthood with totally believable portrayals.

Richard Munday was never far away as the narrator with a fantastic performance throughout. In fact, I found myself wondering what life would be like if we really all had a narrator telling the story of our lives, which caused a few giggles on the journey home.

Niki’s performance as Mrs Johnstone was my highlight of the night. Her performance was believable and her voice was note perfect, hitting the powerful chords with ease and singing tenderly when the need arose.

The set designed by Andy Walmsley is superb and lends itself to many different scenarios. Accompanied by Matt Malone and his band, the soundtrack and set design merge beautifully to really set the scene of this truly brilliant tale.

Despite its cultural significance and it’s numerous themes to explore, it’s still a very easy show to watch and you’re hooked from the very first scene. I would recommend it to anyone, especially as an introduction to the world of theatre and the arts.

My Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Blood Brothers is playing at the Regent Theatre NOW up until and including Saturday 1st October. Tickets are on sale and are available from the Box Office, by calling 0844 871 7649 or visiting www.atgtickets.com/stoke