Willy Russell‘s iconic musical Blood Brothers is playing at Richmond Theatre this week, the penultimate stop on its Spring 2026 tour. I hadn’t seen the show since its last West End run in 2012, so it was a real treat to revisit it.
This epic tale of Liverpool life started out as a play, performed at a Liverpool comprehensive school in 1981, before opening at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983 and then immediately transferring to the West End.
THE STORY
Blood Brothers tells the captivating and moving tale of twins separated at birth, who grow up on opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with tragic consequences.
When Mrs Johnstone, a young mother, is deserted by her husband and left to provide for seven hungry children on her own, she takes a job as a housekeeper to make ends meet. It is not long before her brittle world crashes around her when she discovers she is pregnant yet again, this time with twins.
In a moment of weakness and desperation, she enters a secret pact with her employer that leads inexorably to the show’s shattering climax.
THE CAST
The cast are all brilliant but I think it’s time to breathe some youthful energy back into the show.
Vivienne Carlyle continues to play Mrs Johnstone, a role she has played on and off for over twenty years. She is great but perhaps it is time to give someone else the chance to soar in the role.
Equally, Sean Jones, who has been with the show for over twenty-five years, playing seven-year-old Mickey, is now becoming a stretch beyond belief. Blood Brothers should be a drama school graduate’s first show and it feels like a lazy choice to keep bringing back the same actors year after year.
Kristofer Harding returns to Blood Brothers and commands the stage as the Narrator, a role he first played in 2016 and revisited on the 2025 tour.
Laura Harrison, having previously played Donna Marie in the 2015 tour, now takes on the role of Mrs Lyons and Joe Sleight plays Mickey’s twin brother, Eddie. Both of these give outstanding performances as does Gemma Brodrick as Linda.
Also in the cast are Michael Gillett (Sammy), Tim Churchill (Mr Lyons), Francesca Benton-Stace (Donna Marie/Miss Jones), Latesha Karisa (Brenda), Danny Knott (Perkins), Dominic Gore (Neighbour), Alex Harland (Policeman/Teacher) and Graeme Kinniburgh (Postman/Bus Conductor).
FINAL THOUGHTS
Blood Brothers has to be one of the top ten greatest musicals of all time and this production is as good as it gets.
It continues to sell out night after night, wherever in the country it is playing. But with that should not come complacency in its casting – just because it can.
I would love to see this show back in the West End, where it belongs, with a brand new youthful cast and someone like Sheridan Smith in the leading role of Mrs J.
★★★★★
West End Wilma
If you haven’t managed to catch it yet, fear not. The Autumn leg of the tour kicks off in September and is currently booking all the way through to May 2027.
