Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review
Returning to the stage following a hugely successful West End run and UK tours, Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers visits Derby Theatre this week, bringing a gripping tale of dark intrigue, suspense and many a tear to be shed.
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Sean Jones & Joe Sleight. Photo by Jack Merriman |
Our play begins, strangely, at our story’s end. It’s the 1980’s and Mrs Johnstone, playing by the captivating Vivienne Carlyle, sings a chilling Overture over the bodies of Mickey and Eddie. We find out through our ominous and chilling narrator, played by Sean Keany, that these are the Johnstone twins, and are then transported back to the 1950s where our story truly starts, and where we begin to understand their tragic downfall.
In the 1950s Liverpool slums, we meet a 30-something Mrs Johnstone suffering through life in debt and loneliness as a single parent. She laments the loss of her carefree life and looks back to her much happier, earlier life through the song Marilyn Monroe. Upon finding out that she is about to become a single mother once more, she accepts a job as a cleaner for the very wealthy Richard and Jennifer Lyons. Here, Jennifer - who is unable to conceive herself - learns that Mrs Johnstone is carrying twins but is unable to provide for both babies. She begs her to consider passing custody of one of her babies to her and forces Mrs Johnstone to swear on a bible to let her have one of the twins when he is born. We learn that Mrs J is incredibly superstitious and the first inklings of a dark undercurrent start to surface. When the children are born, Jennifer becomes quickly jealous of the bond between maternal mother and baby and develops a sinister plan to prevent her from demanding her baby back. In the song Shoes Upon The Table, we see Jennifer create a cruel prophesy that if the twins ever learn they are brothers, they will both die.
In the rest of Act One, we see the two brothers - Mickey and Edward - grow up in hugely differing circumstances. However after a chance meeting at the age of seven, the boys become fast friends and make a pact to become Blood Brothers forever. At this, the audience are on the edge of their seats as they worry for the safety of these young boys. When both mothers learn of this friendship, fear and paranoia play at large and the women’s worst fears begin to come true.
Towards the end of the act, though, the Johnstone family are moved to a new council house in a new area, bringing promises of a Brighter Day and a new start. Act Two sees our brother’s estranged and much older, at 14 years old. Mickey Johnstone is having a much happier life in his new home, and has developed a crush on a girl called Linda.
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Vivienne Carlyle & Scott Anson. Photo by Jack Merriman |
However, once again the brothers cannot be separated for long and strange school circumstances lead to a love triangle and a reunion. Mrs Lyons becomes increasingly unhinged and paranoid; The Devil’s Got Your Number is a particularly charged and dangerously exciting moment in the show where we see her grasping frantically to keep the life she has made for herself at whatever cost. In Mad Woman on a Hill, we see this spiral continue with violent and terrifying results.
As Act Two continues, we see both brothers and Linda grow up into adulthood and see the culmination of their very different upbringings come to fruition. The love triangle continues to grow as these now men’s lives develop with challenges and problems of their own. The pressure and drama continues to build and build until we return to the beginning of our play with devastating consequences. Tell Me It’s Not a True, an absolute powerhouse of a song that is well known even outside of the play’s context, shows a mother’s absolute devastation at the loss of her children. It is heart-wrenching despite the ending being literally a foregone conclusion, with the audience still gasping and questioning whether all of this could have been avoided. Were the superstitions true Were the boys’ differing upbringings to blame? Or was it down to the true selfishness of one woman and the utter desperation of another? That is for you, dear audience, to decide.
There were so many incredible performances from this company that it is difficult to choose stand outs. Vivienne Carlyle and Sarah Jane Buckley play brilliantly off each other as the two mums. With Carlyle, we see both utter desperation and the true depths of a mother’s love. With Buckley, we see a spiral of mental health crisis with her physical appearance through the show mirroring her character’s state of mind; she goes from a polished, upstanding and upper class citizen to dishelved and desperate in a way that is completely believable and therefore uncomfortable to watch. Off the back of a hugely successful run in the West End’s The Choir Of Man, Sean Keany brings a much more dark and forbidding side to the role of the narrator. Even in happier scenes, his looming presence reminds the audience that something bad is just around the corner and the delivery of his monologues to the audience directly leave us hanging off every word.
The trio at the heart of our play, Linda, Mickey and Eddie, are played by Gemma Brodrick, Sean Jones and Joe Sleight. All three actors show a masterclass in performance as they transition from the carefree seven year olds with excitement and enthusiasm to adults beaten down by life. Linda’s dilemma is totally understandable to the audience as Brodrick makes clear the inner torment that Linda feels. Joe Sleight was a delight to watch throughout the character’s journey; again it is easy to empathise and feel sorry for a character when the actor brings such warmth to the stage. A particularly heart wrenching performance, though, came from Sean Jones as Mickey. He delivers the famous ‘nearly eight’ monologue with comedy and laughter and the audience root for him from the beginning. To see his complete breakdown of character, then, including a reliance on anti depressants and a total loss of purpose is utterly heart breaking and brought many a tear to the eyes of the audience. Indeed, the entire company brought such a moving delivery of an already outstanding score and script and their final ensemble performance of Tell Me It’s Not True was simply breathtaking.
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The cast of Blood Brothers. Phot by Jack Merriman |
The show’s set makes it clear from the off that we are in Liverpool’s slums, with the bright lights of the Liver Birds towering above the stage. We see a physical divide between classes that mirrors the social commentary happening through the show’s plot. My only point for development is that at times, the sound mixing meant that the band could be heard over the actors and this made it difficult to hear some lyrics which were moving the story forward. However, with this being the first performance at Derby and indeed on this leg of the tour, I am sure this is something that will be ironed out quickly.
Blood Brothers may not be a new show, however this touring production breathes new life to its incredible score and script. If you want a show that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout or moved to tears, then this is the show to begin your 2025 with.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Blood Brothers plays at Derby Theatre until Saturday 18th January 2025. Tickets are available from https://derbytheatre.co.uk/event/blood-brothers/
The production tours throughout 2025 with full tour dates and venues available by visiting https://www.kenwright.com/productions/blood-brothers-uk-tour/
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