 She used to go dancing. But that was many years ago when she
was young and single and childless. After seven children and now barely
scraping by as a single mother, Mrs. Johnstone is weary and overwhelmed. So the
news that her ex-husband has left her with twins in her womb leaves her
wondering how on earth she is going to make things work on the salary she gets
as a maid for the Lyons family. The young, well-off, but barren Mrs. Lyons has
an idea. Mr. Lyons is out of the country and won’t be back until after the
twins are born. Mrs. Johnstone keeps one of the twins, Mrs. Lyons gets the
other. Mrs. Johnstone only has to raise one more baby, and Mrs. Lyons finally
gets a child. Everyone benefits. No one else ever need know. What harm could it
cause?
Of course, as we learn in the opening moments, it will cause
a lot of harm. Just how it does so is the story that is presented in this
excellent production by Highland Players at Helix High School in La Mesa,
California directed by Gregg Osborn. The story is told by the characters
and an ominous Narrator, with Jakob McWhinney making it clear that the
events he unfolds will have dark consequences, sometimes appearing in the story
as an innocuous but omniscient milkman or bus driver, making Mrs. Johnstone
feel uncomfortable as he haunts the edge of her consciousness.
Kayla Lauzier stars as the weary and superstitious
Mrs. Johnstone who, despite the near-constant hardship of her life, loves her
children – even when they are being raised by someone else. Her tenderness,
weariness, and fears are movingly portrayed. Playing on those fears, including
Mrs. Johnstone’s superstitious nature, is Hope Phipps as Mrs. Lyons.
Hope slowly and very effectively transforms from the young, in-control woman
who knows what she wants, to the woman teetering on the edge of sanity as the
one thing she wanted becomes an obsession that she clings to – the fear of her
secret being found out adding all the more to her desperation.
Also doing some nice transformations are the children who
grow up in front of our eyes through body language, voice, and maturity. Kevin
Koppman-Gue is Mickey, the twin that Mrs. Johnstone keeps. Mickey’s
relatively difficult life in a poor family with troubled siblings leads him to
a life full of self-doubt and mistakes, and the once easygoing, happy boy
becomes a man full of bitterness and regret. As opposed to Ian Lewis as
Eddy, the rich boy who becomes immediate best friends with young Mickey as they
seem to hit it off despite their different upbringing. Eddy always has a
willingness to give and share, and his life makes it naturally easier for him
to do so and be a more gentle and content man as he grows older. Maya
Miesner plays Linda, the little girl with an affection for Mickey who
becomes best friends with both, but whose relationship becomes complicated in
adulthood as her affection for the bitter and angry Mickey and the tenderness
and understanding she gets from Eddy makes her choices more difficult.
Andrew Arguilez
delivers some lightness as the relaxed Mr. Lyons. The ensemble combine for the
lively Kids Game and Bright New Day. They do it all in front of
the set by Amy Reams whose focal point is a grouping of picture frames
that hang where the wall of family photos would be – a montage that evokes the
clash of fractured and smashed-together families from which Blood Brothers
is born.
Performs May 1 - 10, 2008.
Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre
~ Cast ~
Mrs. Johnstone: Kayla Lauzier
Mickey Johnstone: Kevin Koppman-Gue
Edward Lyons: Ian Lewis
Narrator: Jakob McWhinney
Linda: Maya Miesner
Mrs. Lyons: Hope Phipps
Mr. Lyons: Andrew Arguilez
Sammy: Evan Stromer
Ensemble:
Marc Caro
Amanda Chase
Taylor Chertkov
Gabriel Garcia
Hannah Hedgecock
Daniel Mena
Hannah Hedgecock
Daniel Mena
Taylor Morgan
Mallory Orr
Austin Potts
Shamera Roman
Carly Russell
Jamie Trevino
Stephanie Wilborn
Meg Zabriskie
Director: Gregg Osborn
Musical Direction: Marty Morgan
Scenic Design: Amy Reams
Technical Direction: Paul Reams
Costume Design: Chloe Liddell
Stage Manager: Jamilah Barajas
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