Lets face it, when the Liverpudlian narrator of Willy Russells Blood Brotherss asks have you ever heard the story of the Johnston twins?, you probably have. The tale of two twins separated at birth into opposite social classes, but later helplessly bonded by friendship and then tragedy is familiar to millions, due to the musical versions worldwide success. It is the original play that gets an outing here, though. Something is lost without the memorable music, and sometimes the rhyming poetry which fits so well into song feels jarring in speech, but The Lincoln Company still puts on a good show, even if their material feels vastly overdone.The company sticks to the standard take on Blood Brothers - here we are in Liverpool in the 1960s, the set is a large billboard plastered with adverts, graffiti and a Labour still isnt working poster. Characters wear flares and flowery shirts when not in school uniform, and dustbins form the only set needed. Its all appropriate but nevertheless lazy; might it not be time for a reinterpretation of period?Still, the piece is largely acted well. Harriet Miers is a feisty, if somewhat monotonic Mrs Johnston; Mrs Lyons (Nikki Felstead), though melodramatic at times, is usually the right mix of holier than thou, patronising, severe and spookily crazed. Mark Brewer is the most convincing of the lot as working-class twin Mickey, developing from mischievous child to moody teen convincingly. Dean Graham lets the side down as the upper-class adoptee Edward Lyons. Graham seems to struggle playing a seven year old; he more closely resembles a parodic take on a child one would find in sketch comedy, and although lines like I think youre smashing are meant to be amusing, Graham sounds awkward. Rarely for Blood Brothers, the scenes where Mickey and Eddy have reached adolescence are more effective than those depicting their childhood. Things can get boring at this point in the musical, but Graham is more believable when playing near his true age, and humour and sensitivity from the pair is more on show here.The central performances are supported by an attentive chorus, who seem sadly underused. They pop out for a few soundscapes and to put set together, but mainly remain under the billboard watching the action with childish faces. Meanwhile, our narrator skulks around, frowning knowingly, though he does have a good prophetic tone which prepares us for the inevitable end.I am not captivated by this show, and my disbelief never suspends sufficiently to forget what the end must be. Still, whilst The Lincoln Company plays it safe, this is an appealing story told in a perfectly fine (though not perfect) way.
