The character that embodies this change is Mickey, played in this case by Stephen Palfreman who puts in a wonderful performance in what is a great role for an actor.
His transformation over the years from a lovable and witty seven-year-old scally to a man totally broken by his circumstances was fantastic. His delivery and comic timing was flawless, his breakdown heartrending. Craig Whitely's sensitive Eddie and Linzi Matthews' feisty yet charming Linda complemented both Stephen and each other perfectly in their gang of three who grow up, sometimes together, sometimes apart.
And I wasn’t the only one weeping at the show either! As well as the sniffles all around me, Linda Nolan, still playing Mrs Johnstone after a number of years, the mother who has to separate her twins so that her family can survive, still puts her all into the role and was still crying during the curtain call. That set me off again!
Rollercoaster
The opening scene of Blood Brothers hints that it’s not exactly going to be a happy ending but to start with the simple, witty lyrics and lighthearted scenes imply that it is a feel good musical. It draws you into the world of the families it portrays, lulling you into a false sense of security, until it twists in the second half and turns into tragedy. But by then it’s too late - you’re completely sucked in. You have invested your time and energy into following these characters since they were seven years old. You witness their loss of innocence and shattered dreams, the comedy of their young lives makes their adult tragedy worse. It really is an emotional rollercoaster!
I thought at the start, that showing the end first could spoil things but I was wrong. It just heightens the tension, because throughout the ‘we’re poor but we’re happy’ atmosphere, there is also a foreboding feeling of inevitability, that they are tumbling ever faster towards disaster.
Like the secret that hangs over the families, the Narrator (Craig Price with his strong and haunting voice) lurking in nearly every scene, not in the forefront, but nevertheless there, also gives you the feeling that the past just won’t go away and that someone or something is orchestrating events that are out of control of human intervention.
I found the whole thing very moving and also pretty thought-provoking which for me, is quite unusual for a musical. And the more you see it, the more is the sense of inevitability of the tragedy of the whole thing and you begin to see in the comedy of the first half, prophecies of what will happen in the second.
Class
On the face of it, one may be tempted to think that it is all about the class divide. It is a bit, but I think it’s more than that. As the two mothers try desperately to keep the twins apart for the rest of their lives, the more they seemed forced together.
It is a good example of self-fulfilling prophecy, showing that if you believe in superstitions enough they will come true, especially, if it’s you that’s made them up in the first place. It’s a good study in how much control we actually have over our own lives.
What playwright Willy Russell has always done so well is combine being critically acclaimed with being populist. This is because he not only puts together well-crafted plays with layers of meaning, he also writes about real people with all their humour and their tragedy.
We can empathise with them because we understand them. In Blood Brothers they may have a firm Liverpudlian voice, with its dry wit and bare humanity, but the emotions that they experience can be recognised by anybody.
Another thing that I like about this is that you don’t get bits of speech that sound like a cue for a song. The dialogue and the music melt seemlessly into one another as if this was totally natural so it is really a drama that has music in it. This is probably a result of one man doing the whole thing, book, lyrics and music.
You never really think of Willy Russell as a musical writer and neither did he, according to his programme notes (which incidentally take the prize for actually being interesting!). Even his agent was sceptical at first, telling him that the key to writing good musical theatre was being ‘hummable’.
Well – it is safe to say that Russell has succeeded, because not only did I find the music very moving, I am still humming Tell Me It’s Not True now! And I’m filling up again!
