Blood Brothers - 30th Anniversary Production, Storyhouse Chester
Willy Russell's 'Blood Brothers' is an iconic show for so many reasons, and the current touring production is possibly the best I've seen yet (this is viewing number three in the last ten or so years).
The show is currently on its 30th anniversary tour and arrived at Storyhouse in Chester for a week, which is a stunning venue and a perfect home for the show.
Visually, the productions I've seen have all been very similar, with the staging very consistent, so it's the actors who make up the cast that make the difference to the show. It became very quickly apparent that they've selected the best of the best for this tour.
Blood Brothers has long been one of my favourite shows, and even when read on paper is fantastic. On Tuesday evening, those words were lifted off the page in the very best way I've seen yet. Act One was laugh-out-loud funny and packed with heart, and Act Two was raw, gritty and heartbreaking. There's a lot to pack into one evening in terms of action and emotion, and this production handles all of that content with ease.
For me, the scene that proved to me that this was the best version of the show I've seen yet was the very final scene, 'Tell Me It's Not True'. When I've seen it in the past, those playing Mrs Johnstone have performed this with such passion, but the rest of the cast seem to be added just for the purpose of layering the voices. This time, every single character on stage was completely swept up in the emotion. You could pick out any person to watch and feel every emotion of the scene. It lifted those final moments to a level beyond that which I've seen before, and led way into the huge standing ovation at the end of the show.
Lyn Paul is described as 'the definitive Mrs Johnstone' for a reason. It didn't even feel like she was acting - she was captivating in every scene. 'Light Romance' was a key moment for me in terms of showing off her vocal ability; it was so full of emotion and built incredibly well.
Alongside her, Dean Chisnall took on the role of narrator and absolutely owned the stage. It's an odd character - ever-present but never directly involved in anything - yet he made a place for himself in every second of that show. The moments he caught the eyes or hands of certain characters for too long, or suddenly burst into a song to completely change the tone of the scene were timed to perfection.
The final cast member I'll mention by name is Sean Jones, in the role of Mickey. It's a huge, huge part to take on, presenting the challenge of moving believably from cheeky seven year-old to drug-addled, depressed young man in a relatively short amount of stage time. Even in his final moments, he was still so clearly the Mickey we had seen in Act One and the way he played those last scenes broke my heart. His performance was a masterclass in acting.
Blood Brothers is a stark comment on the class system, family, money and friendship. The themes are universal and the story is incredible. They are 'ordinary' characters with such an extraordinary story, yet at the same time we see parts of their story played out every single day.
An absolutely fantastic production, and one which confirmed why Blood Brothers is still such a loved show by so many.
Sophie x
The show is currently on its 30th anniversary tour and arrived at Storyhouse in Chester for a week, which is a stunning venue and a perfect home for the show.
Visually, the productions I've seen have all been very similar, with the staging very consistent, so it's the actors who make up the cast that make the difference to the show. It became very quickly apparent that they've selected the best of the best for this tour.
Blood Brothers has long been one of my favourite shows, and even when read on paper is fantastic. On Tuesday evening, those words were lifted off the page in the very best way I've seen yet. Act One was laugh-out-loud funny and packed with heart, and Act Two was raw, gritty and heartbreaking. There's a lot to pack into one evening in terms of action and emotion, and this production handles all of that content with ease.
For me, the scene that proved to me that this was the best version of the show I've seen yet was the very final scene, 'Tell Me It's Not True'. When I've seen it in the past, those playing Mrs Johnstone have performed this with such passion, but the rest of the cast seem to be added just for the purpose of layering the voices. This time, every single character on stage was completely swept up in the emotion. You could pick out any person to watch and feel every emotion of the scene. It lifted those final moments to a level beyond that which I've seen before, and led way into the huge standing ovation at the end of the show.
Lyn Paul is described as 'the definitive Mrs Johnstone' for a reason. It didn't even feel like she was acting - she was captivating in every scene. 'Light Romance' was a key moment for me in terms of showing off her vocal ability; it was so full of emotion and built incredibly well.
Alongside her, Dean Chisnall took on the role of narrator and absolutely owned the stage. It's an odd character - ever-present but never directly involved in anything - yet he made a place for himself in every second of that show. The moments he caught the eyes or hands of certain characters for too long, or suddenly burst into a song to completely change the tone of the scene were timed to perfection.
The final cast member I'll mention by name is Sean Jones, in the role of Mickey. It's a huge, huge part to take on, presenting the challenge of moving believably from cheeky seven year-old to drug-addled, depressed young man in a relatively short amount of stage time. Even in his final moments, he was still so clearly the Mickey we had seen in Act One and the way he played those last scenes broke my heart. His performance was a masterclass in acting.
Blood Brothers is a stark comment on the class system, family, money and friendship. The themes are universal and the story is incredible. They are 'ordinary' characters with such an extraordinary story, yet at the same time we see parts of their story played out every single day.
An absolutely fantastic production, and one which confirmed why Blood Brothers is still such a loved show by so many.
Sophie x
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