Written by: Mahnaz Shujrah
Posted on: March 07, 2019 | 
| 中文
Eddie (Abdullah Ghazanfar) and Mrs Lyons (Mahnoor Yawar)
Alhamra Arts Council on Mall Road, Lahore has lit up with an exciting new performance in town, "Blood Brothers,” an adaptation of the popular musical drama from 1981, written by Willy Russell. The script has been rewritten by Shah Fahad, and the play is directed by Dawar Lashari. The story of "Blood Brothers" revolves around twin brothers, who are deliberately separated at birth, and end up growing up in completely different environments. It is being performed from 28th February till 10th March, in Lahore. Coming from the producers of the hit, “Date Night,” the play was much awaited, and theatre enthusiasts have not been let down!
Eddie Lyons (Abdullah Ghazanfar) was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Lyons (Huzaifa Akbar and Mahnoor Yawar), where he was raised as an only child in an affluent family. On the other hand, Mickey Johnstone (Ian Eldred) grew up at home with his siblings, including his big brother Sammy (Omer Cheema) and single mother, Mrs. Johnston (Iman Shahid) who does her best to provide for her children. The play has several characters whose lives intertwine, and by chance, the two boys unaware of their true identity, end up becoming good friends. The characters of Mickey and Eddie added depth to the play, as the audience experienced a spectrum of emotions, such as jealousy, hope and despair with them. Given the fact that they were portraying characters of different age groups, their performance was terrific. The third musketeer of this group is Linda (Rasti Farooq), friend of both Mickey and Eddie, who ends up playing a crucial role in their lives. The energy that Linda brought to the stage was riveting, and Farooq did a brilliant job at portraying her character as it matures over the years. The narration by Waleed Zaidi took us through the lives of these characters, zooming in on specific moments as they grew up. Since the narrator also knows the prophecy about the brothers, it added an element of tragic irony to the story.
We asked the director, Dawar Lashari, what his experience with the cast was like, and he said, “The best part about the cast was that they were always on time! I enjoyed directing them, even though it was a difficult task as they had to play the same character from childhood to adulthood, so developing the layers of each character was challenging. But eventually, all of them did an amazing job.”
Since the play is a musical, much of the drama was brought to the fore through music and singing. The performance in this regard was truly outstanding, with live singing on stage by all main characters. Iman Shahid, who portrayed the character of Mrs. Johnstone, in particular took the audience by storm with her powerful voice.
Along with its energetic characters and lively dances, the play was also thought provoking. It touched upon sensitive topics of poverty and its implications, mental health, and the challenges one faces, as well as the mistakes made while growing up. Despite having been written decades ago, the aspects of the play dealing with human relationships and emotions remain relevant today. The audience experienced the childhood of these children and followed them through time, observing how their surroundings impact their decisions.
The sets of the play were aesthetically pleasing and well planned, with careful attention to detail. Without any breaks in between, the sets were changed multiple times, which kept the audience visually engaged. The use of digital media was also creatively adopted during some of the scenes. There were often multiple characters on stage, with lots of movement and dialogue, yet everything was well executed. Costume and props played a major role in adding to the visual and sound effects during different scenes.
Although the play was well adapted, at certain points the characters seemed too divorced from the local context, perhaps since they are portraying western culture. It would have been interesting to see how the story could be adapted to a local setting, to deliver the same message with greater impact. Overall, the play was full of energy and that radiated brilliantly through the characters. With excellent actors, the performance brought a classic story to life.
If you haven’t seen the play yet, you can still catch it over the weekend. It’s a fun story that will stay with you, and that you'll surely enjoy.
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