Blood Brothers
Theatre Royal Bath
The Willy Russell story and music about two brothers separated at birth follows in the great tradition of worldwide storytelling that goes back hundreds and probably thousands of years.
The tale of twin brothers separated at birth, one to be brought up in poverty and one with every luxury, could easily have come straight from a Brothers Grimm volume and the bloody ending from one of several William Shakespeare tragedies.
But, even though it was written 30 years ago, it is very much a modern story, both set in and written for the modern era which partly explains why it has been such a colossal hit all over the world and keeps coming back, playing to packed houses and standing ovations however often it returns.
As is now usual, Maureen Nolan plays the leading role of the boys' mother, a role she has pretty much made her own. She is joined this time by Marti Pellow a one time lead singer with Wet Wet Wet as the, in this case, mostly difficult to understand, narrator.
Most of the human emotions are to be found within the story from jealousy to hate, love to compassion, friendship to rivalry all bound together by the kind of humable tunes that were often a part of modern theatre 30 years ago.
Probably most people go along to watch the show simply for its huge entertainment value.
But it is possible to see it too in metaphysical terms highlighting the human being's eternal search for something that is missing, lost or just beyond sight in our lives.
Still, why ever we go to
see it, better take a box
of tissues just to be on the safe side.
Christopher Hansford
