Blood Brothers well worth seeing

Published on 4th December 2008 in Ents

Willy Russell's smash musical Blood Brothers is at the Grand Opera House in York this week - and well worth seeing, even if you've seen it before in the 20 years since it launched in the West End.

Set in Liverpool in the late 1950s and 60s, Blood Brothers has a timeless theme. It is the tale of the Johnstone twins, brothers separated at birth but whose bond can, seemingly, never be broken.

Their mother, played by Marti Webb, is a working class single mum who gives one of the twins away at birth because she simply cannot afford to feed them both - she already has seven other children. She gives him to her wealthy employer - and fate and class are inextricably woven together as the production progresses.

A chance meeting of the twins when they are seven finds the boys becoming friends - despite the opposition of their families - and later blood brothers.

Their friendship during the first part of the show ensures a light-hearted, feel-good atmosphere, which contrasts sharply with the second half, with its tragic, heartbreaking end - just as the narrator has warned throughout the production.

There were five curtain calls for the opening night's production of Blood Brothers - see it if you can, you won't be disappointed. PRB

* Blood Brothers is at the Grand Opera House, York until December 6. Box office 0844 847 2322.