Blood Brothers, a legendary Liverpool musical

Blood Brothers is a musical written by William Russell in 1981. It was first performed at a high school in the Liverpool suburbs but later was presented at the Liverpool Theatre. The play quickly won the love of the audience. It has been translated into more than ten languages ​​and is regularly performed in theatres around the world. Learn more at liverpool-trend.com.

Brief biography of the dramatist

William Russell was born in Merseyside in August 1946. He grew up in the family of an ordinary Liverpool worker and saw class inequality from his childhood. Then he understood that a social class largely determines life prospects. This topic became the main idea of Blood Brothers.

At the age of 15, Russell left school and began working as a hairdresser. At the same time, he wrote songs and performed them in folk clubs. A few years later, William entered Liverpool’s St Katharine’s College and graduated as a teacher.

While studying at college, Russell became interested in writing plays. In 1972, he presented one of his works at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was noticed by writer John McGrath. He recommended the novice dramatist to the Liverpool Theatre, which commissioned Russell’s first professional work.

It was the beginning of his long journey. William Russell wrote many plays that were warmly received by audiences and critics and some of them, in particular Blood Brothers, became a worldwide success.

In 2013, the Archive and Special Collections department of Liverpool John Moores University created the Willy Russell Archive, which stores a huge amount of materials including notes, correspondence, video and audio recordings, press releases, newspaper clippings and more. It is a complete collection of Russell’s works to date.

Plot

Blood Brothers is a musical set in mid-20th century Liverpool. It tells the story of twins, Mickey and Eddie, who were born to Mrs. Johnstone, a poor single mother who already had several children. She secretly gives Eddie to be raised by Mrs. Lyons, a rich married woman who can’t have her own child.

Thus, one of the boys grows up in a wealthy family while the other stays in an extremely poor one. Still, the boys get to know each other and become best friends, not knowing that they are relatives.

In adolescence, Mickey and Eddie fall in love with the same girl, Linda, who eventually chooses Mickey and marries him. Soon, the young man loses his job and, together with one of his brothers, dares to commit a robbery. They get caught by the police and Mickey ends up in prison for several years.

Eddie, meanwhile, graduates from college and becomes a member of the Liverpool council. Linda asks him for help and they begin a stormy romance. Having left the prison, Mickey learns about this and gets furious. He meets with Edward to clarify the relationship and then their mother informs them that they are brothers. Shocked, Mickey accidentally shoots Eddie and kills him. Then a policeman kills Mickey.

Thus, different upbringing, financial situation and environment lead the brothers to opposite ends of the social strata. The play touches on several topics, including class inequality in 1960s Liverpool, fate, the power of money and genetics versus nurture.

How was the idea born?

William Russell, who grew up in a working-class area of ​​Merseyside, had been encountering social inequality since childhood and had been thinking about writing a play that would address this issue for several years. So, when a youth theatre company that performed in Merseyside schools asked Russell to write a script, he jumped at the chance.

That’s how Blood Brothers was written. It toured Liverpool schools and was well-received even though the company didn’t use any theatrical tricks or technology. There was just a very interesting story and talented actors.

At first, it was a simple and short script. However, Russell decided to make it a real musical. He set about writing a full-fledged musical version on the premiere day at the Fazakerley Merseyside school.

He promised the Liverpool Theatre that he would finish it in three months, but he failed to keep his promise. His work on the musical took more than a year, but it was worth it. After all, the music and songs provide background information about the characters, help to reveal the personality of a particular character, create the appropriate atmosphere, add tragedy or comedy and move the plot forward.

Triumph

The premiere of the musical took place at the Liverpool Playhouse Theatre and had been sold out for three months!

In 1983, the performance was staged in London, where it received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical and then went on a year-long tour of the UK. The musical was a huge success on various stages of the country and then returned to London, where it was regularly presented for 24 years. The production became the third longest-running musical in West End history and was also staged on Broadway, where it received several Tony Award nominations and a Drama Desk Award. It was followed by an extensive tour of the United States and the world.

The musical (like the popular comedy One Man, Two Guvnors) has been staged in Japan, Turkey, South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Hungary, Israel and other countries. It is often taught as one of the mandatory works in British literature as part of the GCSE in English schools.

Messages to the audience

As always, in addition to the main message, there are also less obvious ideas that the author wanted to convey to the audience. William Russell says that in Blood Brothers he reflects on the perniciousness of lies.

The entire plot of the play revolves around deception, albeit completely justified for the characters. They don’t even consider it a lie, but rather a small correction of the truth, which is supposed to be for the good.

What’s wrong with the fact that a poor woman, who has received threats from authorities that they will take away her children, considers it most humane to give her new-born to a rich family, where he will be given everything they need? Perhaps nothing, if both women didn’t hide their intentions and did everything on legal grounds, explaining their actions to their surroundings and their grown-up children.

However, they didn’t behave wisely, deceiving everyone around. Their actions are understandable and one can even sympathise with the heroines. Still, both women created a huge lie, which led to the tragic ending.

Blood Brothers is an amazing musical, which was first staged at the Liverpool Theatre and later conquered the whole world.

The story was so liked by the audience that many people came to see the production again and again. What is the reason for such popularity? Most likely, the secret is its fascinating and strong plot, which makes the audience watch and listen with bated breath. Such attention, genuine interest and enthusiasm are the best rewards for the author.