Who would have thought that a show which started as a play performed in a Liverpool school in 1981 would not only still be fantastically impactful, but also still crucially relevant 45 years later? The story of the twins separated at birth and brought up in two very different households is a classic one, but nobody tells it like the inimitable Willy Russell. What marks this drama as different is how remarkably relatable it is: we can see the choices they all make and we understand how they got there: from Mrs Johnstone’s decision to her inability to go back on her word because she swore on the Bible; from Mickey’s fatal decision to help his unstable brother because of needing to feel useful and valued again, as well as earn money.
Blood Brothers stands as one of the finest musicals of all time and this particular production is nothing short of majestic. Every single person is perfectly cast. This show benefits from superb writing but each of them have drawn on that to create fully rounded completely believable characters; not just those in a story, but real live human beings that our hearts and minds believe in. We understand Mrs Lyons: we may or may not like her, but we understand how intimidated, undermined and threatened she feels by the proximity of someone who she feels is a natural as well as rightful mother. We see Eddie fall in love with Linda when neither her nor Mickey see it, and we see him give up on his dream with her because of his love and loyalty to his ‘blood brother’.
Each of the cast are playing on so many levels it’s extraordinary: and they make it look seamless and easy. It’s an ensemble piece, with movement so well-crafted and planned it’s wonderful: at times creating beautiful pictures, at other like watching a murmuration. It’s a character piece with people your heart aches for. It’s a musical, with vocals from each and every person which are sublime, led by the soaring emotional tones of Vivienne Carlyle as Mrs Johnstone: her vocal quality is an absolute joy to listen to. At times she leads, and at others the harmonising duets with Richard Munday as the Narrator blend together like butter. Harmonies in so many of the songs are glorious, showing a cast who truly listen to each other as well as the generosity evident on stage throughout.
Sean Jones as Mickey is absolutely out of this world. His versatility, playing a seven year old – no, of course, nearly eight year old – who we completely believe from top to toe, his comedy timing, facial expressions, the way he changes the way he moves from a small boy to a teenager to later on a man; not to mention the emotional journey he goes through, which we all sail along with in his slipstream: this has to be one of the finest performances on stage ever. His portrayal takes us from joyful to broken hearted and crushed and everything in between. We now know so much more about mental health than when this first came out and that understanding helps us see Mickey more clearly: it’s an impeccable, beautifully tragic performance. He is the emotional core of the show, and he drives it as if his life depends on it. His passion, intention and intensity are unparalleled.
Opposite that other people could be outshone, but not so, his light brightens everything around. Joe Sleight is fantastic as Eddie, fully believable in physicality and actions: accurately stiffer than Mickey, given every opportunity in life and not realising he is privileged. His reaction to Mickey being laid off epitomises this, telling him to relax and enjoy being ‘on the dole’ and living off ‘giros’ (perhaps forgotten language now), is skilfully juxtaposed against Mickey’s working class need to work in order to feel valued and have pride in yourself, especially as a man at that time and in those circumstances. Gemma Brodrick as Linda, from girl to woman, is the strong yet fragile focus for their friendship and love, completely understandably so. Her portrayal is beautifully nuanced. All three of them go from playing both physically and verbally comedic to full character tragic drama: an acting masterclass.
This is an extraordinary and astonishing production as well as story. We get swept up in the tale of the twins, and underpinning that is of course the time Willy Russell was writing in: the late 1970s / early 1980s, as the Narrator reminds us, this is a play about class. While many people now don’t know those times except through study, we have all lived through other times of austerity and hardship, and the divide between different social strata is still as marked – perhaps even more so now in some areas of the Country which from our view in beautiful Brighton, might seem like a different world. This show is equally as relevant now as well as stunningly entertaining: with the focus on mental health a reminder of still so much we don’t know, as well as how far we’ve come. But the show is never preachy or worthy, so whether you take it as an allegory or whether you just enjoy the show is of course up to you: but as the immediate standing ovation testifies, our advice is, don’t miss it.
Theatre Royal Brighton, 10 February 2026
Blood Brothers runs until 14 February 2026
Photos credit: Jack Merriman
