Chelmsford
Theatre Workshop
at
the Old
Court
14.05.2014
Willy
Russell's hit musical is often dubbed a melodrama. But it always
seems to me a Merseyside Greek Tragedy, complete with fate, chorus
and catharsis – even the supernatural and a [screen] goddess.
The
piece originated as a small-scale Theatre in Education production,
with just the one song. And in this version the drama, freed from
those swelling melodies, is all the more vivid. Although in CTW's
production, the show lyrics do survive, lending a poetic force to the
narration especially.
Christine
Davidson's handling of the drama is spectacularly successful. The
characters are clearly sketched, and the pace carefully controlled.
The setting, with its Liverpool skyline and, later, pastoral idyll,
has a high window, and an arched “entry” - both telling features
well used. The two worlds which the twins, once parted, inhabit are
evoked by the simplest details. There
is constantly clever comedy, much of it caused by those worlds
colliding. And
the inevitable tragic ending is frequently, and movingly,
foreshadowed in games with guns and catapults.
A
hard-working cast brings Russell's characters to life – there's a
good deal of doubling, with Marilyn Monroe [stunning] also
Donna-Marie, the daughter who takes after her mother, and the milkman
knowingly explaining that he's now the gynaecologist.
Stuart
Moore makes a compelling narrator, relishing the doom-laden verse in
his dramatic downlight.
The
two lads – not
perhaps “as like each other as two new pins” - are brilliantly
done by Mark Ellis as the poshie from the Park – stiff, naïve,
with a braying laugh – and Chris Edwards outstanding as the scally
from the other side of the tracks, in a tirelessly physical and
totally convincing performance; his
decline into depression is
heartbreaking.
They work superbly together, whether in exuberant play, or as awkward
adolescents, or in their tearful farewell.
The
two mothers are Andrea Dalton as the childless woman driven to
desperation and madness – her
initial delight and her growing paranoia are skilfully suggested -
and Cat Bailey as Mrs Johnstone. A truly
great
performance, this,
exploring
the torn emotions of this victim of fate, circumstance and class, and
giving an impeccable unaccompanied “Marilyn Monroe”, the one song
from the original, unplugged Blood Brothers.
The
tragic
tale
has tremendous impact in the intimacy of the Old Court – we are
swept along by the story and the sure-footed staging, discovering
anew the dramatic heart of this popular success.
Blood
Brothers runs at the Old Court until May 24. Largely sold-out, but a
few walk-ins available each night for those prepared to arrive early
...
production photograph: James Sabbarton
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