Blood brothers - Live Performance Review

Blood brothers – Live Performance Review

Context

On the eighth of July 2004 our Drama Class travelled to the New Theatre to see the sentimental Production of the musical Blood Brothers written by Willy Russel .Blood Brothers was musically directed by Richard Beadle and the performance was directed by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright. It was designed by Andy Walmsley and the lighting was done by Nick Richings. The New theatre is a traditional proscenium arched theatre.

The play Blood brothers was first written in the 1980’s and is met with the same amount enthusiasm as when it was first out. The production is exceedingly popular and has won many awards for its performance and acting.

Interestingly of all the long-running musicals currently in London, Blood Brothers is unique in that the current production, which originally opened at the Albery Theatre in 1988, is actually its second incarnation - the original production failed to score a West End success at the Lyric Theatre in 1983 (where it run for six months). The producer Bill Kenwright picked up the rights to the musical in 1987, and a re-vamped Blood Brother returned to the West End the following year.

The story is set in Liverpool in the 1960s and it centres on Mrs Johnston and her family. It tells a demoralizing tale of two twin brothers separated at birth that grew up in two different social classes and how their lives become unavoidably linked ending in them finally becoming reunited in death. It tells the agonising story of a mother’s utter anguish of losing her child and shows us the impoverished life she led and her financial desperation which resulted in her striking a deal with an affluent, infertile women trading in a human life. The show is based around the superstition that “If either twin learns that he was once one of a pair, they shall both immediately die”. The pressures of superstition, economics and class trap them both and seal their fate - their paths are destined to cross again in both friendship and anger with the most tragic consequences imaginable. Blood Brothers is a powerful and moving story, with both lively and sad parts. It’s a wonderful tale that will capture your heart and leave a lasting impression. The show is both hilariously funny and deeply moving.

Acting Performances

The Talent of the actors, and their overall acting performances were outstanding. In this production Sean Jones played the twin Mickey Johnston. Jones gave and utterly remarkable performance while playing Mickey as a child, teenager and adult. Jones convincingly played Mickey at the age of seven. He captured every aspect of childhood, from Mickey’s boundless energy to his apathetic attitude and absolute innocence of the world around him. While performing, Jones used both his voice and gesture to emphasis his characters feelings and actions. Mickey would always run happily and confidently to the front of the stage, facing the audience without any fear. As a little Boy Mickey energetically ran around the stage mirroring the behaviour of young children to perfection who show so much tremendous energy. All of Mickey’s movement and gestures were extremely eccentric and overdone with a very young and boyish excitement. Mickey’s childish games of riding invisible horses and shooting at Indians highlighted childhood innocence and portrayed a Childs avid imagination. Jones really portrayed a young boys restlessness and energy to perfection, because even when sitting down Mickey still fidgeted about, unconcernedly tapping his feet and swinging hid head in boredom. Jones spoke highly and used very childlike language to express a small Childs way of speech. All of these things helped Jones to really play a Seven year old to utter conviction, and it really was a Joy to see a grown man adopt such a childlike manner, resulting in the audience laughing in complete delight. Then, as the play moved on to the teenage years Mickey’s energy all but disappeared. Mickey seemed to have left behind his innocence and now walked slower and heavier, along with his voice that became deeper and steadier he seemed almost non-recognisable to the young child who was earlier bounding around the stage. Jones really portrayed Mickey’s embarrassment when it came to Linda. His speech was very stuttered and blunt when he answered her confidently asked questions. Mickey always spoke with a hint of irritation when speaking to his mother. Jones really captured the difficulty of teenage years and played a very believable character confidently. Finally the play moved on to adulthood and this was when Jones acting skills really were at their best. After Mickey was released from prison we saw a completely changed man. Jones used movement and his voice to really portray Mickey’s vulnerability. Mickey’s movements were slow and it seemed like every step he took was agony. His speech was slow, and his voice was extremely quiet. He walked hunched over, as if trying to protect himself from an unknown fear and his face was mostly expressionless. It was almost like something had suddenly died inside this young man. Mickey stayed away from the front of the stage as if the audience were somehow a threat to him. Jones really grasped Mickey’s depression as he struggled to come to terms with being unemployed and an ex- convict. It was an exceptional performance from a very capable, excellent young actor. Mickey is a very hard character to play due to his growth from a child to adult in the play, this was a huge challenge for Jones but he took it up making it really seem like 3 different actors played Mickey as he developed into adulthood.

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Linda Nolan played Mrs Johnston, the mother of seven. Nolan gave a remarkable performance and really expressed her character fully. Nolan used her voice to great effect. She always spoke with a troubled voice to portray her ongoing feeling of guilt by giving away her son. Nolan’s movements at the beginning of the show were always happy and carefree because although she was expecting another child you could see that she really loved her children and she still had hope. Towards the end though, Nolan moved differently, as thought finally the weight and pressure of constantly having to care for children and the feeling of insufferable guilt had finally got to her. Nolan really portrayed Mrs Johnston’s anguish of losing one of her children and her utter regret. When Nolan sang you could hear the pain in her song which really touched me, her superb voice seemed to make a connection with the audience helping us to relate to her grief and sorrow through her song. Nolan’s facial expressions didn’t give much away, because Nolan played a very complex character. On the inside she was hurting but she couldn’t talk about her loss because of her promise to remain silent and keep it secret. But on the outside she tried to be contented and puts on an act for her children. I think that Nolan gave an exceptional performance and her voice was utterly outstanding.

Technical and Design Features

The set throughout the play varied little, being only one main set change between Acts one and two. Many of the smaller set changes were shown by adding extra furniture and extra props. Act one centres around about 6 rough, crimson terraced houses. The houses are extremely small and all have the same look of being overcrowded and confined to an undersized space. The houses all have the same rudimentary appearance to them. Towards the back of the stage is a darkened alley which has been smothered in graffiti which portrays crime and destruction which would have been common in places like that. The houses loom over the stage, showing lack of space and although the stage is brightly lit this contrast greatly with the dark red of the bricked houses. The overall mood is one of poverty and the constant fight for endurance.

Act Two begins with a great feeling of hope and new beginnings. Because the family have now been re-housed we can now see a difference in the once claustrophobic set. Although the houses are still terraced, the sinister alleyway has disappeared being replaced with a fence and style and vast fields that stretch into the distance lit by a brilliant blue sky, which gives an overall feeling of space and freedom and makes the set seem larger than the original. The doors have been painted, portraying the family’s fresh start in a bright new destination. The Colours are now bright, like the blue of the sky and vivid green of the grass which just adds to the optimistic mood of hope. The Set now appears to be cleaner and fresher and lacks the depressing feeling that it carried during the first act.

Many other smaller set changes and props were made but these were simply flown in from the wings to show a change in scenery, for instance Mrs Lyons house. In Mrs Lyons house props such as the wide selection of books portrayed wealth and a well decorated wall defined the size of the house which contrasted hugely to the impoverished street that Mickey lived in. These few simple props worked to great effect and really helped to highlight the Lyons luxurious surroundings.

Throughout the play, set and lighting was successfully used to illustrate mood, place and time. In Act one the lighting was overall very dim to create a slightly depressing mood and adding to the drabness of the terraced houses. However, when the children played their imaginative games the lightening changed, becoming brighter which mirrored the children’s happy and bright personalities and brought more life to the scene. While playing, Reds and oranges were used to create an energetic mood and atmosphere. During Act Two the lighting changed, becoming bright and fresh which highlighted the family’s new surroundings and emphasised the clearness of the countryside. Lightening was extremely successfully used in the parts when the narrator told the harrowing story. In these sections the stage became flooded by dark red light and the narrator was highlighted by a bright spot light which made the surrounding stage seem tremendously sinister and ominous which heightened the tension as the narrator spoke.

Because Blood Brothers is a musical, the entire play was full of songs and music. The songs purpose was to create atmosphere and help express characters to the full. Many of the songs were uninteresting and didn’t hold the audiences intention making them indistinctive to the rest. A few songs stood out thought and these few were really brought to life by the actor’s impressive voices. The constant referral soon became very monotonous and unrealistic. The song “Tell Me it’s not true” was exceptional and really built a connection between the actress and audience. It Lyrics which were full of sorrow and truly created a miserable atmosphere and you could really hear true emotion in Nolan’s voice as she sang this well-known song. Also when Mickey is running away from the police the music really helps to build the suspense and tension on whether or not Mickey will be captured. Strong, loud hurried sound helped to create a realistic chase. Overall the songs left a lot to be desired but the music really built and heightened tension and made the play more believable.

Costume in this play was crucial because it could highlight many of the characters roles. Mrs Johnston was dressed in basic garments of unadorned colours and plain styles. Her costume helped to express her character and showed us her responsibility of both mother and cleaner. Her clothes seemed to be very old and looked as if they needed to be replaced which emphasised Mrs Johnston’s poverty. Mrs Johnston was dressed as any other normal working class women in the 1960s.

Mrs Lyons was dressed in fashionable, neat clothes of vibrant colours that really helped to indicate her prosperity. Mrs Lyons shoes were always high which symbolised that she didn’t do practical work and that her wealth secured her a future free of work.

Costume was also essential in showing the development of Mickey, Eddie and Lynda. As children both Mickey and Eddie were dressed completely different, another sign of social status. We saw Mickey running around in old, oversized jumpers that looked particularly well-worn and second hand. Mickey’s clothes never matched .But Eddie was always dressed to perfection with clean, new clothes that fitted well and were of sombre shades. As the children develop into teenagers we see their costumes also develop to suit their change in age. Mickey struts around in leather jackets, jeans and old sneakers which shows Mickey is rather vain and image conscious while Eddie wears a duffle coat and seems more interested in his future than the way he looks. Lynda has changed her childish yellow dress to more grown up clothes such as miniskirts and heels.

Props were also and important part of Blood brothers and helped to symbolise and emphasis different aspects of characters roles and personalities. One very successfully used prop was the style which was used in the second half of the play. It helped create the idea that Lynda and Mickey had jus walked into a field, without having to use extravagant scenery and props, and simply showed us the scene even when there was no mention of the setting.

Directorial Interpretation and impact on the audience

Blood brother’s followers an extremely simple story line. But beneath its simplicity there are many complex themes to the story. Many people regard Willy Russell as a genius who interpretated the most pressing social issues of our time, Unemployment and Social status, into his play. I felt that I understood the characters as I watched them grow change and develop. I could really relate to their problems and I gained a deep insight into their characters which helped me to become totally absorbed in the script. I think the play explored some complex issues such as social status to great effect and made the audience realise that rich people are not necessarily better than poor people. I think that when Willy Russell decided to write this play, he wanted people to think closer about some issues and make us think deeper about them. We can see that fate features greatly in this story and that the twin’s future was already destined to happen as soon as one was separated from the other at birth. Although most songs were not emotionally strong enough to portray the characters mixed emotions a few songs such as “Tell me it’s not true” touched people deeply. The overall acting and performing was outstanding and people felt that they new the characters well. I enjoyed Blood Brothers and it really touched me.

I think the highlight of the show came at the end when the twins finally became reunited in death. The tension was almost heart stopping and the emotion in the characters voices drew tears in people’s eyes. Again Jones acting was substantial as he clutched the gun in his shaking hand and pointed it directly at his brother; the audience seemed to be still in fearful apprehension. This scene was unbelievably realistic and when the song came at the end with Nolan standing between her two dead sons, looking deeply into the audience and singing her tear studded face sent the audience into sad tears. As the lights brightened and the applause shook the theatre you could see that the audience really appreciated Russell’s amazing story of companionship, love and family ties.

Charlotte Bool 11 South