(Thandolwethu
Skwatsha & Anele Ndlovu)
In every respect it is a pass mark, with
distinction. (Review by Keith Millar)
There is little doubt that Blood Brothers ranks as one of the most
popular musicals of all time. With book, lyrics, and music by Willy Russell -
who also gave us Shirley Valentine
and Educating Rita - it holds the
record of being the third longest-running musical on London’s West End, where
it ran for 24 years.
So, what about Kearsney College’s
production of this epic musical which has just finished its run at the school?
Well, in every respect it is a pass mark, with distinction.
Blood
Brothers is not an easy production to stage. It is
a complex story which is at once emotional, funny, dark, heartrending and
tragic. However, despite their youth the young cast faced all these challenges
and succeeded admirably.
The musical tells the story of the Johnson
twins who are separated at birth. One lives with his mother in abject poverty,
while the other is raised in a family of great privilege. Despite their
different socio-economic backgrounds, the boys meet and become best friends, and
even fall in love with the same girl – without ever finding out they are twin
brothers.
However, while the one prospers in life, the
other falls on hard times and this ultimately leads to their tragic
deaths.
The show was directed by a young educator
from the school, Brett Alborough. Better known in musical circles, this was
Alborough's first stage production. And what an excellent job he did. Keeping it
relatively simple, he managed to draw the most from the script and music and
extract strong confident performances from his cast.
Alborough assembled an excellent
eight-piece band (including himself on keyboards) to provide backing for the
singers in the production. Always so much better than backtracks.
He also drew on the considerable
professional skills of Dark Horse Productions, with sound engineer Ross Van
Wyk for sound design and SAS Productions for lighting design, to lay a solid
technical foundation upon which his cast could deliver their performances.
Deliver they certainly did. Kearsney’s
production of this musical had a large cast of 31, all of whom gave of their
best and made a positive contribution to the show.
Of note was Hannah Norcott as Mrs Johnson,
who due to financial circumstances gave away one of her twins. She delivered an
emotional and mature performance in a difficult role. She also displayed a fine
singing voice in delivering a lion’s share of the songs in the show.
Another performance of note was that by
Wandile Nyamela as the ever-present, dark and malevolent Narrator. A
performance which sent shivers down the spine.
The brothers were played by Thando Skwatsha
as Mickey and Anele Ndlovu as Eddie. The roles require the actors to grow from
seven year-olds to adulthood. They were both excellent. Hilariously funny as
seven year-olds and masterful as young adults. Performances both can be very
proud of.
Cassidy Phillips as the boys’ love interest,
Linda, is another one who had to grow from seven to adulthood. She is a
captivating young lady who showed a wide range of emotions.
The only slight negative I have is that the
Liverpudlian accents used by the actors were all over the place. The story is
universal so it may have been better if they had rather used their natural
South African accents.
That aside, Kearsney College’s production
of Blood Brothers was very good and
provided for a memorable night out. Congratulations to their Drama department
and I look forward to their next endeavour. – Keith Millar
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