‘It’s a show for the masses. For the working man’
As the award-winning Blood Brothers comes to the Theatre Royal, JEFFREY DAVIES caught up with The Narrator, Scott Anson
THE late Bill Kenwright’s award-winning production of Willy Russell’s smash-hit Blood Brothers takes to the stage in the West Country next week as part of a UK tour.
Known for having sell-out houses across the country, the drama tells the captivating and moving tale of twins separated at birth, who grow up on opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet up again with tragic consequences.
When Mrs Johnstone, a young mother, is deserted by her husband and left to her own devices to provide for seven hungry children, she takes a job as a housekeeper in order to make ends meet. It’s not long before her brittle world crashes around her when she discovers herself to be pregnant yet again, this time with twins! Mickey and Edward. In a moment of weakness and desperation, she enters a secret pact with her employer which leads inexorably to the show’s shattering climax.
Blood Brothers has been affectionately christened the ‘Standing Ovation Musical’, as it inevitably ‘brings the audience cheering to its feet and roaring its approval’. What makes this multi award-winning play so celebrated I asked a most welcoming and friendly Scott Anson who plays the Narrator.
“Well, it reaches and touches people in so many ways. It’s got everything. And it is still relevant in today’s society,” the Sheffieldborn actor, currently playing Coronation Street baddy Reece Bolton, told me enthusiastically.
“It’s one of those shows people can come and see again and again, and find new things in it. It’s got all the light-hearted humour at the beginning, and it takes the audience on a complete journey. Then at the end it’s just devastating. For people who’ve not seen the show before, it really does pack a punch.
“I remember the first time I saw it. I was 20 and I had just started drama school in London, and managed to get a half-price ticket on the front row. I was just sitting there and watching the whole thing and being totally engaged in this brilliant piece of theatre. Then I remember going on the Tube back to the place I was staying in and being totally devastated and not being able to bring myself out of it. That was such a vivid memory,” Scott added, going on to tell me that from that day onward Blood Brothers was the show he wanted to be in and that “later down the line I got my dream.”
I put to Scott that bagging the role of the Narrator was something of a ‘smash-hit’ for the actor in itself. It is also, I confessed, the role I would choose to play if I were an actor. Was that how he felt on being selected for the role first time around 20 years ago and now?
He laughed: “I think people look at the show and see Mickey as the key role. He’s the one everything happens to,” Scott answered.
“But what I love about the Narrator is that he is always there. He’s always present somewhere on stage and the audience is thinking who is this guy? Then half an hour into the show they accept that he’s walking on stage and dictating the play which is such a brilliant device.
“You know, we now do two shows on a Wednesday and a Thursday and by the end of the last night you’re not only physically and mentally tired but you’re emotionally drained as well. It really is demanding because you’re never off stage.”
I remarked that Scott was not the only actor to reprise an iconic role in Blood Brothers. Sean Jones (who I interviewed a few years ago) has also reprised his role as Mickey, followed by Niki Colwell Evans as Mrs Johnstone, Gemma Brodrick as Linda and Joe Sleight as Eddie.
Also returning to the show for this 2024 tour are Timothy Lucas as Sammy, Sarah Jane Buckley as Mrs Lyons, Tim Churchill as Mr Lyons, Graeme Kinniburgh as the Postman and Bus Conductor, and previous cast members Chloe Pole as Donna Marie and Miss Jones, Jess Smith as Brenda, Josh Capper as Neighbour, and Alex Harland as Policeman and Teacher. Danny Knott plays the role of Perkins.
“When I first joined Blood Brothers in 1999 as a very young Narrator (I was actually the youngest ever to play the role at the time; I don’t know if I still am) Sean Jones joined the company as the Neighbour. Although Sean has had little break, on and off he has stayed with the show. When I was offered the job to come back on this particular tour I was so desperately hoping Sean would be playing Mickey because it’s like we’ve come full circle,” Scott said, delightedly.
But Sean ‘is’ Mickey really, I suggested, having seen him play the role so charismatically on many occasions.
“He is. And, do you know what Jeffrey, I am so lucky because I get to watch the show every night from different angles. Sean, like all the cast in this particular production, brings something new to it every single show. They’re not resting on their laurels. And that’s the beauty of it as well.”
Scott told me this story is timeless. That its themes are universal. Could it also be set just about anywhere in the world?
“Absolutely. It’s a show for the masses. For the working man. It really could be played anywhere, set anywhere because the writing is so good. The fact that it’s happening in Liverpool in this play doesn’t mean the storyline could not be applied
to other places or any other community,” the engaging and chatty actor replied.
Blood Brothers has a great score too, I remarked. Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe and the emotionally charged hit Tell Me It’s Not True.
“It’s a simple score for me and that’s the beauty of it as well. It’s just so connected to emotion. Honestly Jeffrey you just don’t get bored of playing the show. And people don’t get bored with it because, as I’ve said, they come back to see it time and time again. They say it moves them every single time and they never get tired of watching it. As actors we need to keep being fresh and bring a new energy to it every show. And that’s what we do.”
The Narrator presents a powerful and gritty persona on stage. The role reminds me of Inspector Goole’s ‘presence’ on stage in JB Priestley’s equally gripping play An Inspector Calls, I remarked. We don’t know whether the physical embodiment of the inspector on stage is anything other than the conscience of the other characters in the drama. Essentially, would or could Blood Brothers work without the charismatic Narrator?
“I know what you mean Jeffrey; but absolutely not. The Narrator is an integral part of the show. He doesn’t get jokes or anything like that. I try not to play him too sinister too soon because it can kind of give away the plot a little bit and you get too dark too quickly.
“I’m very light-hearted in the first half and, actually, half way through the second half, until fate starts kicking in and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I don’t think this show could play without the Narrator, no. It’s so well written,” Scott said, adding that he was delighted when he met the show’s playwright after a performance one night.
“We all met after the show and there’s was a tap on my back. I turned around and there was Willy Russell and all he said to me was ‘spot on mate’ and I was like ‘wow’. And then he’d gone just like the Narrator. It is one of my favourite moments in my whole life,” he said with a smile.
How would Scott describe the Narrator as he plays him?
“It’s hard to say. I don’t think I’ve tied down any one particular thing like because there are too many things. What I like to do is leave it to the audience to make that decision. For me he could be the devil, he could be the devil’s apprentice or he could be the conscience of Mrs Johnstone. Or he could be like a man in a pub who gets possessed by something and just tells the story of Mrs Johnstone and can’t stop the tragic consequences. Just a storyteller. That’s the beauty of Willy Russell’s Narrator. He [the Narrator] is the guy who is there to tell the story and be emotionally involved in it as well.”
And finally, Coronation Street villain Reece Bolton. A fun television role to play in what is the world’s longest-running soap?
“Absolutely. And another iconic show as well Jeffrey. Again, I’m very lucky to play a supporting role in a particular storyline which ran at the end of 2021 and which, unfortunately for me as my character, I ended up getting 18 years imprisonment!” Scott laughed, saying that he very much enjoys playing the role of one of Corrie’s bad boys.
“The good thing is the girl who plays my daughter is now going back as a series regular so hopefully somewhere down the line they may bring me back in for a good stint. It’s nice they do invite me back for little appearances now and again. It’s always good,” he said with a smile.
Award-winning Willy Russell’s epic tale of Liverpool life started as a play performed at a Liverpool comprehensive school in 1981, before opening at Liverpool Playhouse in 1983. The musical has since triumphed around the globe and the Bill Kenwright Ltd’s production surpassed 10,000 performances in London’s West End, one of only three musicals ever to achieve that milestone.
■ Blood Brothers is playing the Theatre Royal Bath from April 9 to 13. Tickets can be booked on 01225 448844 or online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk