August 31, 2008 –
Well, the other evening I went and saw what was, to me, the best musical I have ever seen. Blood Brothers. I do like the theatre. In fact the only times I venture out in Plymouth is to see a show or for dinner. So, I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I was to watch this STUNNING production. Honestly, if you get the chance, you must see it – outstanding! This has apparently won so many awards, including best UK musical – and now I know why. I told a few gents that I was going to see it and I was told ‘You will definitely love it and take your hankies’ You were right on both counts.
A little bit about the story…
Twin brothers separated shortly after birth lie reunited in death at both the rise and fall of the curtain of Willy Russell’s musical drama. Who is responsible? There are many suspects: two women who strike a deal to trade in human life; a younger woman whose love for both men will drive a wedge between them; an errant older brother whose trajectory towards crime seems inevitable; a certain weakness in will on the part of both of the boys which may be something to do with their having been robbed of their birthright of unity.
A grim narrator takes center stage at the end and asks if it is fate, superstition, or “that thing we have come to call class,” which is really responsible. Given that the play was written in the economically depressed, socially divided Great Britain of 1983, the suggested answer is unsurprising. Liverpool-born playwright Russell turned his hand to the musical genre for the first time here, having already achieved success with dramas and comedies including One for the Road, Stags and Hens, and, most importantly, Educating Rita, the latter a comic drama in which the class divide which separates a student and her professor proves only an illusory determinant of the true power to change. Russell’s credentials as both a keen observer and a social polemicist were thus well established and the musical seemed like a strange place to go next. The result was a significant success though, a show which continues to run in London and tours the rest of the world.
The question of blame hangs heavily over all of the dramatic action, but though there are many human factors in play, Russell’s ire is firmly directed at the class system. The boys have led very different lives, one in the impoverished back street terraces of the city of Liverpool, the other across the park in the more respectable end of town. The children were disunited when their mother, Mrs. Johnstone realized that she could not afford to raise them both. She struck a reluctant bargain with her childless employer, Mrs. Lyons, that she would give her one of her then unborn twins and never reveal the truth. Ironically, as if drawn to one another by forces larger than geography or economics, the boys meet and become friends. Realizing they share a birthday, they swear to be blood brothers. Each finds the other a fractured mirror wherein all his hopes and desires are reflected. Fate, naturally, intervenes in their relationship, and a plethora of human frailties and the mixed motivations of those around them both eventually bring them into conflict.
Simply outstanding.
Well, the other evening I went and saw what was, to me, the best musical I have ever seen. Blood Brothers. I do like the theatre. In fact the only times I venture out in Plymouth is to see a show or for dinner. So, I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I was to watch this STUNNING production. Honestly, if you get the chance, you must see it – outstanding! This has apparently won so many awards, including best UK musical – and now I know why. I told a few gents that I was going to see it and I was told ‘You will definitely love it and take your hankies’ You were right on both counts.
This here blog thing started as a way to express my saucy self. But do you know what? There's more to me than the saucy bits! So herewith you will find all sorts of thoughts, anecdotes, ideas, funny things (lots of them), deep and meaningfuls - a mixture of everything really, just like life. I hope you like it here. I like it here. It's cosier if you are here too so stay a while.
