Blood Brothers - Willy Russell

I went to see blood brothers at the theatre at christmas, and I thought the play was great. I had read Educating Rita in school, which I don't think is all that amazing, but I prefered this storyline. It's not only funny and amusing, but sad and upsetting. It really touches all your emotions.

The basic storyline is about a women who gives up one of the twins she has to the rich women she works with. She has to give up her child, because she can't afford it. Throughout the play you follow the twins storys and love lives. The twins, naturally meet, and they fall in love with the same girl. Minnie, the girl they fancy, loves the poorer twin, and eventually they get married. But then, trying to make money for his family, the poorer twin gets sent to prison. Once out of prison hee suffers severe bouts of depression. Naturally Minnie turns to the othr twin for help, which has its own consequences.

Throughout the story there is a little tale of superstition, which contributes to my favourite song of the play, take your shoes of the table. By the end of the play your left wondering if there is something in superstition, but, of course, it's only a ply.

The main superstition is that when seperated twins will die on the same day they find out that they are twins. Of course, this comes to pass. And don't say I'm telling you the storyline in advance, because this is told to you in the first scene of the play.

The music I didn't think was as good as the actual play, but that was because I didn't like the style much. There were maybe eight instruments in all, and the songs relyed heavily on voice. The songs themselves were great, but I thought there needed to be a bigger band.

The characters; you might of guessed by now that I can't actually remember the characters names, but the characters themselves were great. You meet all the poorer twins friends on the estate, my favourite character being his naughty older brother Sam. All the characters are amusing and have story's to tell. I think they are a great asset to the play.

There are only 14 cast members (I think) and they sing and act very well. All in all I would recommend seeing this play, because it is interesting and funny, but I wouldn't go and see it a second time. I haven't actually read the book and I'm not inclined to, but it was enjoyable to watch on stage.