An emotive classic, wisely unchanged in this touring production of the Willy Russell musical. ★★★★★

I have had the pleasure of watching several Mrs Johnstones over the years — from one of the Spice Girls (I forget which Mel) on a GCSE drama trip to London, well over a decade ago, to Lyn Paul who in my eyes provided the supreme matriarchal performance of Mrs J. I wondered how any other casting choice could possibly compare. Pleasingly, Niki Colwell Evans did a fabulous job and despite a couple of ladies in the row behind me crowing about her appearance on The X Factor, this was clearly not stunt casting.

Entertainment ★★★★★

A gripping storyline and an appreciation of the skill required for adult actors to portray the Johnstone twins from age 7 onwards drives the entertainment value of this show. You don’t have to be studying the play to reflect on the effect that nature vs nurture has on personality and life chances. Like all the best tragedies, humour is employed sparingly to extend heart and realism to this tale, and does justice to Russell’s book.

Musicality ★★★★☆

Not a musical in the traditional sense — a stillettoed chorus does not high kick around in sexy devil costumes during the foreboding “Shoes upon the Table” number — rather, the songs punctuate the drama and pathos of the story. This soaring use of musicality crescendos into an instinctive standing ovation on the last notes of “Tell me it’s not True”. There was not a dry eye in the stalls as we filtered out of the auditorium.

Value ★★★★☆

You know what you’re getting with this one; despite temptations in recent times to modernise the contextual backdrop of original source texts, or to minimalise the setting and backdrops, thankfully Blood Brothers does neither and follows the if it aint broke… principle.