Blood Brothers (The Play)
Written by Willy Russell
Director: Dave Livingstone
'Blood Brothers' is the story of fraternal twins separated at birth. Their different upbringings take them to opposite ends of the social spectrum, one becoming a councillor and the other unemployed and in prison.
When they both fall in love with the same girl, it causes a tear in their friendship and to their tragic deaths, but is is questioned whether class was more to blame than superstition.
Cast Characters
Graham J. Evans The Narrator
Anna Barker Mrs Johnstone
Yve Price Mrs Lyons
Mark Thomas Mickey Johnstone
Matthew Oliver Edward Lyons
Laura May Deacon Linda
Ensemble
Gareth Baskerville, Bleddyn Jones, Jerry Grummitt,
Fay Grummitt, Lily Jones, Ben Livingstone, Connor Goddard.
For more images of the production, please click here.
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Here is a review of the show, as written by Helen Morgan of the South Wales Argus:
The Blood Brothers musical has been running in the West End and around the country for so many years now, it is easy to forget that it actually started life as a play by Willy Russell. So it is interesting to see the original being performed once again by Blackwood Little Theatre - after they first tackled it in 2006 - and a superb cast taking on the wide range of roles.
Naturally there are many differences - it would be impossible to include all the many characters that appear in the musical - and the original ending is much more tragic, and rings much truer, than the finale in the musical.
Young drama student Anna Barker excels as the worn-down mother, the iconic Mrs Johnston with her many offspring, and her Liverpudlian accent is spot on. But Mark Thomas and Matthew Oliver playing her youngest children, the fated twins Mickey and Edward who are separated at birth, really steal the show.
Full
of energy and
mischief they romp around the stage after their chance reunion
at
the age of seven, and along with Laura Deacon as
Mickey's lively girlfriend
Linda, they cause much hilarity
amongst the sell-out audience, with their
games, antics and
cheekiness.
Director
David
Livingstone does an excellent job of changing the mood in the
second
half, as the twins get older and follow the
obvious paths into adulthood that
their
different backgrounds dictate - and the pace and lighting
alter
dramatically as the play heads to
its inevitable and tragic conclusion.
Yve
Price is
inspired as Mrs Lyons, the wealthy woman so desperate to have a
child
that she persusaded Mrs Johnston to give her one
of the twins - so beginning
the chain of events that leads to
both the twins' fate.
And
Graham J.
Evans as the narrator is a constant menacing presence,
always
observing and commenting darkly on the
characters' behaviour as the play
progresses.
It is
a play filled
with superstition and intrigue and it is a tribute to both
director and actors that you remain spellbound
to the last scene.
You can read the original article here.