A school drama
Blood Brothers was first performed in a secondary school in the northern English city of Liverpool in November, 1981. Local playwright Willy Russell had written the play for a young people's theatre company that performed in schools.
All the youngsters and teachers who saw this first production simply loved it. Russell was persuaded to add some songs to his short play and expand it into a full-length, two-act show that could be performed for adults in a professional theatre.
A massive success
Russell's revised version of Blood Brothers opened at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983. The show then transferred to a theatre in London where it won an award for best new musical. It is still running in London, making it one of the longest-running productions in theatre history, and student versions of the play are performed by school theatre groups all over Britain.
Russell said the story of Mickey and Eddie Johnstone sent shivers up his spine when he was writing it. Blood Brothers is a deeply moving piece of modern theatre whether it is performed in a theatre or read in a classroom. Once you know the story of the Johnstone twins, you will realise why this simple but powerful play has become so successful.