Blood Brothers @ New Theatre
The smash-hit musical Blood Brothers has been selling out theatres across the globe for over twenty five years and this week Cardiff’s very own New Theatre welcomes the touring cast and crew to its humble stage.
And the play itself had humble beginnings; commissioned by the Merseyside Young People's Theatre Company for secondary school children and was first performed at Fazakerley Comprehensive in Liverpool in November 1981.
Hailed by many as a musical ‘you can see again and again without it getting boring’, (although this is feint praise indeed), the show won an Olivier Award for Best New Musical when it opened in the West End in 1983 and has since been one of the world’s best loved productions, capturing the hearts of theatre goers from Brisbane to Bristol.
Written by Willy Russell whose other works include Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine, the piece follows two fraternal twins who were separated at birth and whose subsequently different backgrounds take them to opposite ends of the social spectrum.
The plot thickens as the two meet as children and become best friends or ‘blood brothers’ as they realise they were born on the same day, and there is great humour between the Scouse, lower class Mickey and the posh, excited at hearing a naughty word, Eddy. The class differences aren’t focused upon hugely but they are always there and provide the backbone for the story to unfold.
And ultimately it ends in tragedy, as they both fall in love with the same girl, and a mother weeps for both her children; the one she brought up and the one she gave away.
It could be classed as a ‘typical twin story’ as I heard a woman behind me say during the interval, but writer Willy Russell didn’t want a “dry academic ‘nature versus nurture’ debate to go on” but was instead interested in the actual separation of “two people who should really be kept together.” The play is summed up rather well by producer and director Bill Kenwright; “Blood Brothers is a very simple story but everything about it is epic.” Good point well made.
This particular cast was faultless and it needed to be with such a talented history of performers and in such a prestigious show. Lyn Paul, member of The New Seekers, was magnificent as Mrs Johnstone, mother to the separated twins and a role which has been played by stars such as Petula Clark and Carole King, but Paul was well up to the job, as were the rest of the excellent cast.
It was too good to put into words and I’m sure anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing it will agree. All I can say is if you need a fulfilling, uplifting and desperately soul searching evening out, then this is on until Saturday at the New Theatre.
For times and tickets please visit the New Theatre's website.
Click here for info on the performing arts in Cardiff.
