Blood Brothers, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton.

PLAY reviews are supposed to be impartial, objective and totally unbiased but this is not going to be one of them as when it comes to the musical Blood Brothers I am an out and out fan.

This is the seventh production I have seen and from the opening moment when that slightly menacing music begins and the mysterious narrator asks: “Have you ever heard the story of the Johnstone brothers?’’ the show just tingles with humour and unimaginable sadness.

It is a captivating and moving story of how a twist of fate turns a mother’s haunting secret into a tragic reality when her twins are cursed with a terrible destiny should they ever meet after being separated at birth.

Playwright, Willy Russell created one of the theatre’s most enduring characters in Mrs Johnstone, who has to struggle with a hand-to-mouth existence, a good-fornothing husband, the cruelty of class, superstition, and eventually a heart-rending conclusion in the Liverpool of the 1960s.

Marti Webb takes the role of Mrs Johnstone and conveys, with humour and emotion, the impoverished housewife who reluctantly gives away one of her sons to a wealthy family.

The words of songs such as Marilyn Monroe, Easy Terms, Shoes Upon the Table, and the unforgettable, Tell Me It’s Not True all have the same impact as the dialogue, pitched perfectly to reflect the social rules and conditions which made for a harsh, but loving, life in past decades.

For the past 25 years Blood Brothers has constantly been in production but this enduring, and awardwinning musical stills remains as powerful and fresh as it was when the story of the Johnstone brothers was first told.

The show at Southampton’s Mayflower theatre runs until Saturday, October 18.

Keith Hamilton