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Show: Blood Brothers
Society: New Wimbledon Theatre (professional)
Venue: New Wimbledon Theatre. 93 The Broadway, London SW19 1QG
Credits: By Willy Russell. Produced by Bill Kenwright
Type: Sardines
Performance Date: 08/02/2022
Blood Brothers
Willy Russell has a reputation for powerful social commentary set in heartbreakingly beautiful storytelling – Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine are cases in point – and the 40-year appeal of Blood Brothers shows that it packs just as much political and emotional punch.
Messages are important, but the real power comes from the characters Russell creates and the bonds they form with their audience. Right from the off, we fall in love with Niki Evans’ Mrs Johnstone – her first number Marilyn Monroe showcases her warmth and twinkle as well as her vocal strength – while Sean Jones’ Mickey and Joel Benedict’s Eddie are utterly adorable seven year olds: Jones’ panto experience is in evidence as he gallops in and charms the audience, while Benedict’s more buttoned-down, well-behaved Eddie cries out for a hug. Jones’ transformation from that glorious child to a shuffling, lost and depressed man is totally believable and desperately sad, while Benedict’s growth into the older Eddie is less dramatic but delicate in his sadnesses, too. The two mothers tug at our heartstrings as their different, but equally sad, stories unfold, culminating in the devastatingly beautiful, iconic Tell Me It’s Not True. Russell ensures that our sympathy is instinctively with Mrs Johnstone, but Paula Tappenden gives an equally powerful performance as Mrs Lyons, her jealousy and desperation turning to neurosis and spite, underpinning her efforts to show Eddie how much she loves him.
The brothers and the mothers are beautifully balanced as leads, but the play does need its other parts. Robbie Scotcher’s Narrator is a gorgeously brooding and diabolical figure, always there to remind both mothers of their shared guilty secret, his regular reprises of Shoes Upon the Table winding through the narrative with underlying threat. Carly Burns’ Linda provides a perfect mix of sass and sweetness, gradually being ground down by womanhood and worry, while there is gold amongst the smaller parts – Tim Churchill’s sweetly harried Mr Lyons contrasting nicely with his milkman and gynaecologist, the clever juxtaposition of Nick Wilkes’ two very different teachers – and the wider ensemble providing a series of perfect backdrops for the twins, particularly as kids.
The set is great: the depressing graffiti of the rough end of town is transformed into the paradise of open fields as things look up for the Johnstones, and then back again to slums and closed factory signage as things get darker.
Lastly, plaudits must go to Matt Malone’s fantastic six-piece band: nothing works like a live band in a theatre for raising the hair on the back of your neck, and this one was great. Integral to the drama but never overwhelming the voices; a perfect complement.
Blood Brothers is, brilliantly, on the GCSE curriculum and the school groups in the audience will love the perfectly pitched humour (spitting, spots, swearing and kissing) and drama: this draws in a new generation of theatregoers and shows them that you need to see and feel theatre for it to come alive.
From curtain-up to the thoroughly well-deserved standing ovation, a COVID-checked capacity audience delirious to be back in the theatre laughed, cried, gasped and cheered, and then thought about the story all the way home. And if that’s not a perfect evening, I’ll get Sammy to spit in your eye.