Review: Blood Brothers at Sunderland Empire

“…Vivienne Carlyle was born for this role, her voice was phenomenal…”

Blood Brothers by Willy Russell, Sunderland Empire

By Lauren Powell

This is my partner’s favourite musical – the musical that got him into musicals; he loves it. I, however, have only ever seen an am-dram version of this show, prior to tonight, and frankly I was not impressed at the time. He was adamant that I must see “the real thing”, so I jumped at the chance to see this at the Empire, if only to settle the argument and prove that I am correct. I actually really enjoyed myself, so I’m big enough to say there is a first time for everything and Blood Brothers is, in fact, pretty good. It’s the acting that made it for me. 

The plot is fairly straightforward. Twins, separated at birth, raised in different backgrounds, become unlikely friends – nay, “blood brothers”. The challenges of adult/ working-class life destroy their relationship, and tragedy ensues. It sounds pretty bleak, but that is offset with a peppering of laugh-out-loud funny moments. 

The sets, costumes and lighting were really proficient. Everything was just right to suck you into the world without getting distractingly extravagant. I particularly enjoyed the textured filters on the lights; they really added to the atmosphere without being too flashy and they supported the actors by hinting at emotional distress. I also appreciated the attention to detail given to mobile set pieces, like the chairs. They use chairs to set the scene fairly often. No chairs do a double shift, so if the scene requires dining room chairs, you get dining room chairs; for bus seats, you get bus seats, for cinema seats, likewise. They seem to have quite the collection.

By and large, I loved the acting. The cast presented a lot of characters. Everyone who isn’t a main character played several other roles and they managed to feel distinct enough that it wasn’t too distracting. I was enchanted by Vivienne Carlyle as Mrs Johnson. She was born for this role, her voice was phenomenal and I really believed her as a struggling mum, who was forced to strike something like a Faustian bargain. Sean Jones, as Micky, was also phenomenal. It took me a little while to settle into seeing him as a kid (he very much looks like an adult man), but his body language and physical comedy made me believe he was not seven, but actually almost eight. Gemma Brodrick, playing Linda, was also a master at age-shifting. 

I felt the play dragged itself through the plot at times. Everything about the story is spelled out and, while repetition of themes and motifs is a very effective storytelling mechanism, it can be a little too much. I would have enjoyed it more if it had been trimmed in places and some things were more ambiguous. I also have one small critique of the acting. Every instance of staged violence was really less than convincing. As I’ve said, the rest of the acting was great, so I was slightly irritated by the flaccid pawing that replaced slaps and punches. It distracted from the otherwise great performances.

I left the theatre with some mixed feelings. Personally, I wasn’t hugely sold on the songs or the storytelling, but that does not detract from the quality of the stagecraft and the generally enjoyable acting. The standing ovation they received was well deserved and I must say the dramatic climax was actually one of the most perfectly executed moments of theatre I have seen. So the question is, would I recommend it? I absolutely would. If you like musical theatre, I’d say it’s a must-see because it’s a classic and it really benefits from this setting and cast. It’s not perfect, but it is worth your time.

Blood Brothers plays at Sunderland Empire until Saturday 21 March. Tickets are available here.

Lauren Powell is a recovering academic from the North East of England. Currently residing in South Shields with her partner and two malevolent gerbils. Lauren is a short form writer who writes fiction as well as reviews. She has loved the theatre since childhood, and many years ago volunteered back stage with an amateur group, Stage Focus.  From one man readings to musical and beyond, Lauren can not get enough! You can find her on Twitter/X here.