Blood Brothers (Studio Scripts)

This is a fast-moving and perceptive, entertaining and thought provoking work, which is funny, yet ultimately tragic. It tells the tale of twin brothers, born into a large working-class family and the consequences of one of them being adopted by a neighbouring middle-class family. "Blood Brothers" looks at the differences and conflicts of their upbringings, their relationships with each other, and with their real and adopted mothers. This original version, initially specifically commissioned for performance by the Merseyside Young People's Theatre Company, is ideal for a large mixed cast. The play is simple to stage, rewarding to act, and provides plenty of stimulus for discussion and written work.

Willy Russell was born in Whiston near Liverpool and left school at fifteen. He went through a succession of jobs before, at the age of twenty, he decided to take `O' levels and `A' levels and become a teacher. At about the same time he saw John McGrath's play Unruly Elements at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, and decided he wanted to become a playwright. His plays include: ONE FOR THE ROAD, STAGS AND HENS, EDUCATING RITA, BLOOD BROTHERS and SHIRLEY VALENTINE.