Germans de Sang (Blood Brothers) at Teatre Condal, Barcelona Review
Written by Laura for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Germans de Sang (Blood Brothers) follows two twin brothers, Eddie Lyons and Mickey Johnstone, who were separated at birth. They grow up in vastly different economic and social circumstances, which initially doesn’t seem to matter when they become friends as children, but it’s something that will inevitably taint their lives and their relationship as they grow older.
Originally, this musical written by Willy Russell debuted in Liverpool in 1983, but moved to the West End shortly after. Its revival from 1988 was a huge success, so much so that it became the third longest-running musical to ever play in the West End. Catalonia is no stranger to this show either. In 1994, it premiered at Teatre Condal, in Barcelona, where this latest production is on stage, and became a huge hit with Catalan audiences.
The staging by Alessio Meloni is simple but effective, consisting of shipping containers to emulate the side of town where Mickey and his family live. Inside them were the musicians, who became visible from time to time. Other moving fixtures helped create the Lyons’ house, the park or Mickey’s house as well. Overall, it was not over the top, but it didn’t feel cheap or purposeless either.
There were some issues with the microphones and audio mixing in general during the show, especially at the beginning. It is a new production and these things are to be expected but it was unfortunately a bit too recurring not to bring it up.
Albert Salazar was Mickey, and Roc Bernadí played Eddie; I have nothing but most sincere praise for both their performances. I must admit I didn’t know much about the show, so I was surprised at how long the characters are children and teenagers, but both actors navigated these phases of the characters’ lives with such ease that I was able to suspend my disbelief and truly believe I was watching children. They had such amazing chemistry and incredible voices too!
Lucía Torres, who usually plays Mrs. Lyons, was on as Mrs. Johnstone at this performance. Again, it is a new production, so I do believe it was her first time in the role with an audience. She seemed a lot more at ease during songs than the dialogue, when sometimes she stumbled a bit, but overall, she delivered a strong and emotional performance that had the audience give her a standing ovation.
Tai Fati was amazing as Linda as well, and although she’s more of a supporting role, she created a wonderful and well-rounded character that was believable and empathetic. All kudos to the rest of the cast, who are unfortunately too many to be named one by one, but who helped deliver the story in the most impactful way.
The show has an interesting score of recurring themes and motifs that help hammer down the social differences, the characters’ mistakes or the things that haunt them. It was, perhaps, a bit too recurring, at least to me. Some songs are reprised three or four times, and I wished we could have heard some new material instead of the same one over and over. The intensity of the scenes and the acting made up for this repetition, though.
Even though Germans de Sang was written many years ago, its message is still relevant today, perhaps now more than ever. The audience is being steered towards fatality slowly but surely as the brothers’ differences in status and wealth make themselves more and more obvious, making even the happiest moments bittersweet and disheartening.
Germans de Sang is only playing until February 8th, 2026. Catch it at Teatre Condal before it’s too late!
★★★★