Did You Ever Hear the Story of the Johnstone Twins: 'Blood Brothers'

by Daniel Hill

Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers tells the story of two twins secretly parted at birth and is one of the most loved musicals of all time. Having seen it four times, and not planning to stop here, it has long been my most favourite production I have ever seen on stage. What is it all about and why is it so successful?

During the show, we follow Mrs Johnstone who gives away one of her twins at birth to the richer Mrs Lyons. We see Mickey Johnstone and Edward Lyons grow up as friends unaware of being brothers. Mrs Lyons battles against Mrs Johnstone throughout, who regrets giving up her child and fights to see him every day. The question of Nature vs Nurture is challenged during this show, but we are never provided with a final answer. This is all shadowed, up until the day they die, by the Narrator who guides the characters through their lives and almost leads them to their bad decisions. I would describe it as a realistic exploration into the irrational behaviour of the human race. However, it hasn’t had a particularly simple time becoming the huge success it is.

Blood Brothers had its debut in a secondary school near Liverpool in 1982. It originally had no music and was performed with very minimal props. The play then began to tour around schools before Willy Russel decided to add to the idea that had been in the back of his mind for so long. This led Russel onto transforming this play into the musical and taking the step towards what we see today. Soon after its success at Liverpool’s Everyman Playhouse in 1983 it had backing from West End Producers which meant it was destined to play on one of the most major stages of the world.

During the same year as the premier in Liverpool, Blood Brothers opened in London on the 11th April 1983 and closed on the 22nd October 1983. Barbara Dickson played the part of Mrs Johnstone and Andrew Schofield played alongside her as the sinister Narrator.  It had a fairly short original run in comparison with some of the bigger musicals that are known worldwide such as Phantom of The Opera and Chicago. This minimal success led to the musical embarking on a national tour in 1984. Luckily, this wasn’t the end of the musicals career as Bill Kenwright picked it up and it has since gone on to wow audiences in all parts of the world. Kenwright led another tour in 1987 which ended in the second West End run. This second chance that the musical was given gave it the momentum it required to become the much loved musical of today.

Blood Brothers’ second run on the London stage lasted from 1988 to 2012 making it the third longest running musical on the West End Stage. The love for this musical had begun! Since then it has toured around the UK almost every year and is currently still on a tour. Perhaps it’s the unique ambiguity of the story that is only found here - or possibly in Shakespeare’s works - which gathers crowds from every corner of the country. The most recent production I have seen was at the Mayflower Theatre on a Friday evening which ended with a standing ovation from the Stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle. Why is it that this is still the case?

With a cast that seem to return with every tour, somehow the show stays fresh and each night the audience is asked who is in the wrong. Mrs Johnstone gives her child away, Mrs Lyons buys her child, Mickey is brought up by love, Eddie by Money. We are never offered a definitive answer as to who is in the wrong, or even who kills who. Perhaps it is this that makes the play a gripping exploration into social class. It is very rare for the Book, Lyrics and Music to have been written by a single man and it could be this sense of unity that gives it something special  which isn’t particulalrly noticeable in anything else. In the same way that the play is filled with uncertainty, I don’t think we will ever find an answer to why it is so successful.

Can this show do anything more? I am not quite sure. Even after a long life, with a cast who have been doing the same thing for years, it looks and feels fresh. Some shows seem to get bored with themselves after a few months but Blood Brothers has managed to keep on going. Perhaps we are only missing something to keep the piece alive when/if it ever does stop going. During an interview with the BBC in 2008 Russel revealed that he has written a screenplay of the show but as of yet has not decided to persued this idea saying, “But the film that we wrote was a film that would cost in today’s money between 50 and 60 million dollars. It’s not a 6, 7, 10 million dollar British movie... and people are not queuing up at the moment to spend that sort of money to make musicals. We'll do it when it’s right to do it, there’s no point making the film we don't want to make”. Hopefully this will become a reality in a few years as we have seen a slow increase in the musicals that have graced the big screen from Les Miserable to The Greatest Showman with all of them working out as a success.

  

“Did you ever hear the story of the Johnstone twins,

As like each other as two new pins,

How one was kept and one given away,

How they were born, and they died, on the self same day?”

If you haven’t, book up straight away. It is a musical that is loved by people who hate musicals, a play loved by people that hate plays and a show that is loved by all. Many people return numerous times to watch the sensational show and it is worth it every time. It won’t be long until it relights the West End stage and I am personally eager to see it for the fifth time!