“Niki Evans returns triumphantly to the lead role”
It’s over forty years since Willy Russell penned Blood Brothers as a school play. From that humble beginning, the show grew into one of the most successful musicals of all time with productions in the West End, Broadway and around the world. To this day, it still holds on to third place as one of the longest running musicals in West End history having ran for over 10,000 performances. Since 2019 the show has been travelling around the UK (with a few obstacles along the way ..!) and this opening night performance at the Theatre Royal Windsor marks the start of a further sixteen weeks of touring.
The show revolves around young Liverpool mother, Mrs Johnstone. Deserted by her husband, she becomes a housekeeper for the wealthy Lyons family in order to feed her seven children. She is soon shocked to discover she is pregnant again, this time with twins, and makes a heart-breaking decision that forms the plot of the show.
Niki Evans returns triumphantly to the lead role she last performed over a decade ago in the West End. Her stunning performance throughout shows she has slipped back into the part as if she’d never been away – magnificent vocals (notably in the iconic ‘Tell Me It’s Not True’ and the recurring refrain of ‘Marilyn Monroe’) and every inch the embodiment of the troubled Mrs Johnstone. Sean Jones returns as Mickey, in his final ever tour in the role accompanied by Joel Benedict as his twin brother, Eddie. Both actors deliver strong and nuanced characterisations as they play the boys across the years. The story as always is carried along by The Narrator, this time in the capable hands of Robbie Scotcher. Paula Tappenden is a believable, manipulative Mrs Lyons and Carly Burns as Linda (the twins’ childhood friend and Mickey’s wife) gives another standout performance.
Direction (Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright) clearly guides the cast to make the most of the action and Andy Walmsley’s simple yet effective set, which feels perfectly suited to the Theatre Royal’s stage. Sound (Dan Samson) and lighting (Nick Richings) are suitably subtle but effective nonetheless. Musical Director Matt Malone ensures the shows unforgettable songs are delivered to perfection by the top notch band.
As the show draws to a close with the haunting melody of ‘Tell Me It’s Not True’ it’s easy to understand why Russell’s masterpiece continues to delight audiences. It’s that rare perfect mix of a show that makes you laugh and cry in exactly the right proportions. This latest tour will not be the last for the Blood Brothers and it’s surely only a matter of time before it makes a well-deserved return to the West End.
Reviewed for thespyinthestalls.com
Photography by Robert Day (from previous production)
Blood Brothers
Theatre Royal Windsor until 29th January then UK Tour continues
“draws us into the big big hearts of these characters in a beautifully low-key way”
There is a moment in Tom Wells’ “Big Big Sky” where Angie, the café owner, talks of once sighting an albatross gliding across the Yorkshire shoreline. Nobody believed her. “You should have taken a photograph” she is told; which she rebuffs by explaining she would rather have just experienced the moment. The sentiment personifies the play that, in our Instagram age, rolls into our hearts like a breath of fresh air.
This burst of fresh air sweeps in from the North Sea onto the remote hamlet of Kilnsea on the Yorkshire coast. It is always closing time here. The café is closing in each scene, perhaps for good this time. The summer season is over, and as the long winter months beckon, even the way of life is tottering on the brink of extinction. But the café is a haven of hope, of tea and sympathy. Run by Angie (Jennifer Daley), helped by the younger Lauren (Jessica Jolleys), the clientele has flown south – along with the local bird population. Lauren’s father Dennis (Matt Sutton) has a habit of turning up for his freebie supper just as the ‘café open’ sign is dragged inside each evening. It is a cosy ritual, the cloak of which sometimes slips from the shoulder to reveal the bruises born of sadness and grief.
In walks Ed, an enthusiastic conservationist and ecologist, driven to this backwater for a job interview. Today he would be labelled as being ‘on the spectrum’, but in this timeless setting he is merely awkward; initially shy. A vegan geek, Sam Newton effortlessly makes his character loveable, pitching the mannerisms with precision and choreographing perfectly timed moments of understated humour. A captivating performance. It is tempting to say he stands out, but he is matched by the other three, all of whom bring a powerful and penetrating realism to the roles. Dennis bubbles with the Luddite gruffness of a man who has lived in one place for too long, yet Matt Sutton refocuses this myopic vision and we can clearly see a grieving heart that beats beneath. Jessica Jolley’s Lauren is a gorgeous mix of sense and sensibility, who mocks and respects in equal measure – particularly Ed, for whom she falls. Holding the fort is Jennifer Daley, an outstanding portrayal as the maternal yet heart-achingly vulnerable Angie.
Wells’ writing takes centre stage along with the actors. Nothing much happens but it is brimming with backstories and the subtle and melancholic prose draws out the sadness and grief in just the right measure that it sits comfortably alongside the humour. Tessa Walker’s direction reflects this, unafraid to string out the silences between the clamour of emotion, forming the rhythm of the breakers and backwash on the shingle outside the café. A refreshing and bracing combination, capped by Bob Bailey’s authentic coastal tea-room design.
Each character is mourning the loss of a loved one – a mother, a wife, or a daughter. But the will to keep moving perseveres. The café is on the brink of extinction, but it perseveres. Like the hope that shines through the cracks of these characters’ sadness, it will always be present. Life does go on. This type of theatre is sadly often thought to be obsolete in today’s climate, where everything strives to be innovative, shocking, or polemic. “Big Big Sky” definitely disproves that notion. It draws us into the big big hearts of these characters in a beautifully low-key way. It may be a harsh world they live in, but warmth glows from this snapshot of their lives, which will stay in your heart longer than any photograph.
