'I love her strength and her resilience' - Vivienne Carlyle on playing Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers

Written by Willy Russell, few musicals have been received with such acclaim as the multi-award-winning Blood Brothers. It has won four awards for Best Musical in London and received seven Tony Award nominations on Broadway.

This epic tale of Liverpool life started as a play, performed at a Liverpool comprehensive school in 1981, before opening at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983. The]score includes Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe , and the emotionally charged hit Tell Me It's Not True.

Vivienne Carlyle leads the cast as Mrs Johnstone. Her performance earned her nightly standing ovations in the West End and has garnered widespread acclaim since she joined the national tour last year. Here, she talks about why the show means so much to so many people – and what it’s like to play such a heartfelt role.

For people who are new to the show, what is Blood Brothers all about?

Blood Brothers is by the amazing Willy Russell, who wrote the book and also wrote the music, and it's about a mother named Mrs Johnstone who is trying to make ends meet. She's very poor. Her husband leaves her and she's left with seven children and then discovers she's pregnant again. When she finds out she's having twins, Mrs Johnstone confides in her employer Mrs Lyons, who is childless and who persuades her to give her one of the babies. Fast-forward to seven years later, the two boys end up meeting, and it's about their story as well as their mother's and how their lives are intertwined even though they're separated. They're brought back together with tragic results, but it's not just a heartbreaking show. There are huge comedy elements in it and you have adults playing kids, which also strikes the imagination of our younger audiences. You become connected to these characters and then you see them grow up, and you follow on their journey with them. It's a very interesting piece of theatre and in my opinion one of the best shows I've ever performed in.

What do you like about the character of Mrs Johnstone?

I love her strength and her resilience. No matter how hard life is for her and despite her feeling guilt for what she's done, she still tries to do the best she can with as much grace as she can muster. In spite of everything that happens, she still rises up at the end. I love that and I think it's a great message for us in life because that's what we have to do. We've all had terrible things happen in our lives and it's about how we deal with them, recover, move on and live the rest of our lives.

Can you relate to her in any way?

Both of my parents were very encouraging in terms of how when you have a problem you work through it. They set the bar high for me in terms of saying 'We don't run away from our problems, we stand up to them, we do the best we can, we keep going and never take no for an answer' and all that sort of thing. I was very lucky that they instilled that in me and in that way I can relate to Mrs Johnstone because I think I'm quite strong. I'm a feisty Scot and Mrs Johnstone is a feisty Scouser. She's a beautiful character to play.

What makes Mrs Johnstone such an iconic musical theatre character?

She starts out at around age 18, so you get to play this huge arc of a beautiful story and a beautiful journey. Life keeps throwing things at her and she keeps rising. She keeps getting knocked down again but she keeps going. I think that's what makes Mrs. Johnstone so relatable because that's what we all do. People watching it - and I don't mean just women, I think it's the same with men who come to see it as well - go 'Well, that's life, isn't it?'

How's the reaction been to the show from audiences on the tour so far?

They laugh, they cry and they are very emotional at the end. It really touches people, a lot of whom come back to see it again. We get a lot of return visitors who have seen the show many times over the years. They come back, they see a different cast and they fall in love with it all over again in a different way.

What's the nicest bit of feedback you've gotten about it?

One time we were in Skegness and a boy aged around 14 or 15 had been to see it with his school the day before. He brought back his mum and dad the following night, and I was so touched by that because he had felt such a connection to the piece.

Blood Brothers premiered in 1983. Why do you think it has endured for all these years?

I think the story is really unique and gripping, and the characters are very strongly drawn. No matter who you are - whether you're in your teens, your 30s, your 70s or whatever stage in life you're at - you'll come and see the show and there'll be some character in it that you can connect with. You go on this journey with the person that you connect with the most and it moves you emotionally.

How would you sum up the magic of musical theatre?

Theatre is live, so you immediately connect with it and it's got that sense of urgency. The stakes are higher when you're watching something knowing that it's unraveling in front of you. You can't press pause, which you can with streaming and things like that. Anywhere there's live theatre and live music there's a level of excitement that you don't get anywhere else. It's like coming together as a community and watching something that bonds you. And of course with a musical the emotions are heightened. As a performer, when I'm on stage it's music that moves me in an almost primal way.

Blood Brothers runs at the Theatre Royal from Tuesday September 9 to Saturday September 13. Visit trch.co.uk or call 0115 989 5555 to book.