BLOOD BROTHERS to Play Storyhouse Chester in october
Vivienne Carlyle, Kristofer Harding, Sean Jones and Joe Sleight lead the touring cast of Willy Russell's musical.
Bill Kenwright's award-winning production of the musical Blood Brothers will come to Storyhouse next month as part of a major UK tour.
The legendary tale of nature verses nurture visits the Chester cultural venue from Tuesday 13 October – Saturday 17 October 2026, with tickets costing from £24.75 for Storyhouse Members.
Vivienne Carlyle returns to the role of Mrs Johnstone while Kristofer Harding will appear as the Narrator. Audience favourites Sean Jones and Joe Sleight will star as the Johnstone twins Mickey and Eddie.
Written by Willy Russell, few musicals have been received with as much acclaim as Blood Brothers. Considered 'one of the best musicals ever' (Sunday Times), Bill Kenwright's production surpassed 10,000 performances in the West End and has been affectionately christened The Standing Ovation Musical as inevitably it 'brings the audience cheering to its feet and roaring its approval' (Daily Mail).
Blood Brothers tells the tale of twins separated at birth and who grow up on opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with tragic consequences.
When Mrs Johnstone is deserted by her husband and left to provide for seven hungry children, she takes a job as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Discovering she is pregnant again, and this time with twins, in a moment of weakness and desperation she makes a secret pact with her employer – one which leads, inexorably, to the show's shattering climax.
This epic tale of Liverpool life started as a play, performed at a Liverpool comprehensive school in 1981 before opening as a musical at the city's Playhouse in 1983. It has since triumphed across the globe, completing sell out seasons in the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan, and winning four awards for Best Musical in London and seven Tony Award nominations on Broadway.
Willy Russell is one of this country's leading contemporary dramatists. His other credits include Educating Rita, originally commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, which enjoyed a two-year run in the West End and was subsequently turned into a film starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine; stage and screen favourite Shirley Valentine; Our Day Out; Stags and Hens; Breezeblock Park and John Paul, George, Ringo…and Bert.
The Blood Brothers touring cast also includes Tricia Adele Turner as Mrs Lyons, Tim Churchill as Mr Lyons, Beth Danher as Linda, Michael Gillette as Sammy, Sarah Moss as Donna Marie/Miss Jones, Amelia Poggenpoel as Brenda, Jack Anthony Smart as Perkins, Jamil Abbasi as Neighbour, Alex Harland as Teacher/Policeman and Graeme Kinniburgh as Bus Conductor/Postman.
The musical is directed by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright, with Tim Churchill as Resident Director, and Matt Malone is Music Supervisor. It has set and costumes by Andy Walmsley, with sound by Dan Samson and lighting by Nick Richings.
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