Review: Cardiff Healthcare Drama Society’s performance of Blood Brothers

Cardiff University’s Healthcare Drama Society presented a thrilling production of Blood Brothers at Llanover Arts Centre in December.

The production raised money for the student-led charity and society, Make a Smile.

Image credit @sami_m_photography

A play adaptation of Willy Russell’s classic musical, Blood Brothers, was showcased by the cast.

It was an emotional roller-coaster from start to finish. The harrowing story of a working-class mother forced to give away one of her twins, was brilliantly played by Leanne Palmer. This was carefully intertwined with comedic relief expertly delivered by Mrs Lyons (Carenza Danko).

From the outset of the play, Mrs Lyons delivered lots of laughs as a lofty and upper-class house-wife. Yet, as the story progressed, the laughs soon dwindled as her character’s true desperation and cruelty was revealed.

Throughout the play, there was a plethora of great performances, most notably by Aaron Slade.

Aaron presented a highly emotive portrayal of Mickey, alongside Yugaantar Jain as Edward. The duo excellently depicted two twins with two very different lives, illustrating the harms of class-inequality; one of the play’s central themes.

Image credit @sami_m_photography

The director of the play told The Cardiff Tab that they “wanted to do a play rather than a musical and we were able to do that with Blood Brothers which is such an amazing classic.”

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During the interlude, there was a raffle which helped raise money for Make a Smile, a student-led charity. It is centred around bringing joy and entertainment to children facing illness and disabilities who have limited opportunities to play. Make a Smile creates safe and fun environments where children facing hardship can interact and enjoy time with their favourite characters through dress up actors.

The audience at Llanover Arts Centre held onto the casts’ every word from beginning to end and it was clear that their epic performances were a great success.

Feature image via @sami_m_photography