Blood Brothers

Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth - Review by Janine Pulford

Last night's performance of Willy Russell's fabulous musical Blood Brothers had the audience on its feet for a standing ovation.

It was polished to the extreme with the smoothest of set changes, perfectly executed songs and music that filled the theatre with a clarity that was as stunning as it could be shocking.

Set in Liverpool, the story is about twins, separated at birth, but drawn together in boyhood, even though they have entirely different backgrounds - one poor; the other well to do. Despite this, and deprived of the knowledge that they are twins, they worship each other and become blood brothers. The love they share is finally stretched to its limit in later years when they fall for the same girl.

Maureen Nolan, (of the Nolan Sisters fame), had a plausible Liverpool accent and poured her heart into the role of their real mother, Mrs Johnstone. Plagued with guilt for having given one of her twins away, she is bound to secrecy because of a superstition, drummed into her by Mrs Lyons (Tracy Spencer - the 'mother' of the other twin) that if she revealed the truth, both twins would die. 

Tracy pulled off the rather snooty mother admirably and reminded me a little of Penelope Keith in the 'Good Life.'

The narrator, Craig Price, hovered ominously in the background and pushed the story to its tragic conclusion.

But for me, Mickey played by Sean Jones, stole the show. He put acrobatic energy and enthusiasm into every scene, from child to adult, not only leaving memorable traces, such as when he pulls his holey green jumper over his head, but dealing with a whole gambit of emotions and making the audience feel them with him.

His older brother Sammy (Daniel Taylor) was as energetic, but in a minor role, and I could have watched the two of them all night.

Eddie, the other twin, was oh so nice, but very much in Jones' shadow. And the young girl they fall for, Linda (Kelly-Anne Gower), was such a brilliant schoolgirl, it was hard to think of her as an actress, if that makes sense.

Blood Brothers has been playing for 28 years and I soon discovered that a number of the people in the audience sitting near me had seen it before and they loved it enough to see it again.

If you crave a professional musical, Blood Brothers will satisfy in every way.