Evaluation of Blood Brothers

Evaluation of Blood Brothers

On Wednesday 22nd of June I went to see a production of Blood

Brothers, written by Willy Russell, and directed by Bob Thomson and

Bill Kenwright, for the Sunderland Empire. In essence it is a play

about two twin brothers separated at birth; one given a rich

upbringing, the other a poor, who eventually learn of their separation

to tragic consequences.

The set used throughout the production was very clever because,

although the rows of houses at either side of the stage remained, one

side was always used by Mickey’s family, while the other by Eddie’s.

This automatically created a rich/poor divide, reflecting one of the

main themes of the play. However, with a few choice props, the whole

stage could be used to create any scene, such as at the fair or at

school, without the street scenery being taken away. I believe that

the street was omnipresent to remind the audience that, wherever the

boys went in life, this is where they both started from and the

difference in their social background would always dominate. The

lighting at the beginning of the play was red, orange and blue, the

former colours representing danger, urgency and death, and the latter

blue to soften the mood, as it was a very sorrowful scene. Also the

very quiet music added to the sombre atmosphere.

The play began with a moving tableau depicting the ending. The

brothers were lying dead on the floor, and all of the characters were

on the stage crowded around them as if in mourning. This was effective

because it is the only time they are all on the stage together, apart

from at the end, united in grief. Beginning like this helped to

establish character relationships, while reflecting the narrator’s

first lines, which sum up the play and introduce the superstition

theme. It was a very effective opening, because it made the audience

pay more attention to the next few scenes, than they perhaps would

have, had they not had the narrator’s words in their head, and were