Review: Blood Brothers ***

For over 28 years Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, described as the Liverpudlian West Side Story has played and captivated audiences all over the world.

Shrouded in superstition and sadness, it tells the story of two brothers separated at birth, who by chance or fate strike up an unlikely friendship spanning the class divide of their very different worlds.

This new production is energetic and gritty, capturing the humour and tragedy of the story in an emotive way. The destiny of the Johnstone twins is sealed in a dramatic visual opening. However, some of this impact was subsequently lost by some inaudible dialogue by narrator Craig Price, who drifted in and out of the Liverpudlian accent and lacked consistency in his characterisation.

In a series of flashbacks the show follows the Johnstone twins through childhood, adolescence and manhood. As Mickey, Sean Jones is outstanding. We see him progress from a scruffy, dirty child, with a mouth to match, to an insecure teenager and finally a desperate, drug dependent man trying to come to terms with the stigma of a prison sentence.

In complete contrast Chris Carswell as Eddie is convincing as the posh kid on the block weaving his way through public school and university in a world so far apart from Mickey. The onstage bond between these two actors is so believable one would almost think it’s for real.

However, X Factor’s Niki Evans as Mrs Johnstone doesn’t seem to be able to get to grips with this iconic role. She lacks the empathy, tenderness and desperation of a mother who has given away her child. In some of the vocals her own voice took over the role, sadly making them devoid of the intended sensitive emotion.

But a large part of the success of this production rests with the versatile supporting cast who double and treble and give some amazing cameo performances

To July 23.