TO say Blood Brothers is jaw-droppingly brilliant and a must-watch is almost an understatement.

Because this production is so moving that you cannot help but be totally consumed by the characters, the plotline, the comedy, the tragedy, the music… indeed it is impossible to not take the story home with you, in your head and your heart.

The standing ovation at the finale re-affirmed what the entire audience at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre was thinking: it was just knock-out.

Even if you don’t know the Blood Brothers story, the audience will be confident they won’t go far wrong with a Willy Russell masterpiece. The man is also famed for classics including Our Day Out, Shirley Valentine and Educating Rita.

Blood Brothers is set in a poor area of Liverpool and centres on Mrs Johnstone, a single mum trying to make ends meet as she attempts to look after her large brood.

She starts a cleaning job for well-to-do Mrs Lyons, who cannot have children. However when Mrs Johnstone falls pregnant with twins, and worries about another two mouths to feed, Mrs Lyons offers to take one.

After reluctantly agreeing, the twins go their separate ways, with starkly different upbringings, until they unwittingly meet as friends at seven and become ‘blood brothers.’

The storyline intricately weaves – and questions - a multitude of issues, including class, fate, and nature versus nurture.

Niki Evans skilfully plays Mrs Johnstone and belts out numbers including Bright New Day, and Marilyn Monroe, with ease. On closer inspection you can see why she’s such an able singer: she’s an X Factor semi-finalist who was pipped to the post by Leon Jackson in 2007.

Narrator Craig Price also effortlessly commanded the stage as he discretely strolled into view throughout.

Sean Jones, as Mickey, Chris Carswell as Eddie and Anna Sambrooks as Linda worked their characters, as they took them from carefree seven year old children, to complicated, troubled adults over the course of the play.

One of the best shows out there.

Blood Brothers is running until Saturday, November 5 at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. For more details see www.atgtickets.com/