I felt that the set was set out quite well but was fairly small and would have benefitted from being more spacious. It was a fairly detailed set in a Stanislavski style which helped the drama as it could be more focused on the set. It could however been more imaginative. The infrequent centre set changeovers were quick and well done and because of this, did not slow
down the pace of the play and kept the action going smoothly throughout.
The actors used the set well though, and gave a real impression of it being a
country road or a rough part of a Liverpool council estate helped also by the background. Almost everything that would contribute to making a convincing set was included and I feel that the set was one of the strong points of the play.
The acting was especially strong, as some of the roles taken up by the actors were difficult. In Mickey making the transition from a hyperactive child to a depressed and unemployed man was convincing and well acted. He delivered his lines well and had good comic timing. However his voice was not particularly strong and he did not sing the songs too well.
His brother, Eddie is also played well and you see him grow up as a more stable person and not greatly different to his child role. I feel this is due to the background he is from which is of a middle class family in the better parts of Liverpool and then when they later move to the country. Eddie does not have the more volatile background of Mickey and because of this and the wealth of his adopted family, can attend university and obtain a better education. You watch the deterioration of the friendship take place as Mickey becomes involved in crime and Eddie is installed as a town official. Both of these roles were played very well and accurately but not quite convincingly enough to have you believe that they were real brothers. Other roles played well were that of Linda and Mrs. Johnstone. These were good aswell due to the very strong singing performance of Mrs. Johnstone and the acting of Linda during the spell in which Mickey is greatly depressed and dependant on his medication.
Other roles played not so well were that of the narrator. I felt that when he sang he shouted and tried to emphasise the lyrics too much on certain occasions and sometimes has a posture and posing more of a preacher. His role should be to work on the conscience of the characters and then to see them develop the ideas planted in their heads by him. Also another role not played particularly well is that of Mrs. Lyons. She does not let us observe the paranoia which is growing in her mind or the desperation and lengths she is willing to go to prevent her child knowing his true identity. She does play some scenes quite well such as the one in which she threatens Mrs. Johnstone to leave and exposes her superstitions.
Overall I was not too convinced or drawn by the acting. I felt it was too weak in places which were important parts of the play and was not helped by some quite poor performances from some other members of the cast which was disappointing as the rest of the acting was fairly good. The main part that did not convince me was the ending. This was meant to be emotional and powerful and I felt that it just was not. Due to what had previously been mentioned about the twins death if each other’s true identity was to be exposed, the ending was of course predictable but entertaining. As mickey had the gun, you knew he would end up shooting Eddie but you did not know how it would end up. Due to this, the loud explosion was certainly not expected and added some action to the ending.
I also felt that the music was not particularly well sung or very good. On reading reviews of the play from others who has seen it I found that they felt the music was of a very good standard. I however disagree and this style of music and the way it is sang is mainly aimed at older audiences but can also work with younger ones. I think some of the music suited the action well like the ‘Marilyn Monroe’ in which Mrs. Johnstone compared her life to that of Marilyn Monroe, but the repeated song of the narrator was poorly sung and in general a bad song, which did have a meaning, but was lost in its poor rendition. Some parts were over acted and over sung which contributed to the play being not quite as good as it should have been. However the balance between the musical section and the cast of singers is very good.
The seating in the theatre was fairly comfortable but there was a definate lack of legroom in all seats. The air conditioner was faulty which led to there being a hot atmosphere inside the theatre and this was uncomfortable at times. It was not full, suggesting that reviews for this production were not particularly good and many seats were taken up by other school students, which covered up what would have probably been an embarrassing amount of people watching the play. It was also fairly hard time consuming to find and exit. This involved going down several stairs and almost having to guess which one was the way out
Overall I was more impressed than I was expecting to be by the production but I was not too enthralled or drawn to the play due to the above mentioned problems and faults in the play. I think it does achieve what it sets out to do but not in a particularly convincing fashion. The majority of the acting is played fairly to very well but the singing and music lets the production down and in a musical that will not help it any way. I did feel also that many other people I had seen the play with had felt it to be uninspiring and not especially good. I think that the other productions of ‘Blood Brothers’ in other, larger theatres may have been better due to perhaps better actors and certainly more money to spend on a more elaborate set. I do not feel that ‘Blood Brothers’ was a poor play. This is because it is not the type of play I would go to see and due to this my mind was almost made up before I saw the play. I think that people who would like this sort of production would certainly enjoy it but others who do not will not be convinced and this will do nothing to change their opinion.
