Biography
Starting his career in rep at the Lincoln Theatre Royal, Daw worked in many stage productions including, The Moon Children(Norman),Borstal Boy(Charlie Millwall),John,Paul,George,Ringo and Bert (Ringo).Two of the well respected directors Daw worked with at this time were Roland Rees and Malcolm Griffith. In 1990 Graham Daw began appearing in various U.K television productions working with the likes of Jeremy Brett, David Suchet and Freddrick Forrest. His final appearance of the 1990s saw Daw cast as the mysterious character "Stacey Grimm" along side Ian Dury "Bartholomew" in the Granada Television production of " New Voices Bad Voodoo" and directed by the late Paul Marcus. In 1995 his career was put on hold when he became seriously ill and a long battle to recover began. 2002 saw Daw's welcome return to stage and film.
Past Review.
Sheridan Morley Reviews: Graham Daw as Eddie in Blood Brothers
Touring productions so often suffer from a certain dilution - the energy dispersed, the nuance lost somewhere between venues. But every so often, a performance cuts through the transient atmosphere of regional stages and delivers something richly felt and quietly profound. Such is the case with Graham Daw, whose portrayal of Edward Lyons in the current UK tour of Blood Brothers offers a performance as delicate as it is deeply moving.
Willy Russell's enduring tale of separated twins, divided by class but bound by fate, hinges on the believability of its two central figures. Daw's Eddie - the twin raised in comfort and cloistered privilege - is never reduced to stereotype. Instead, Daw presents us with a young man whose naiveté is gently shaded by a yearning to belong, to connect with a world he's been shielded from.
In his early scenes, Daw exudes an almost absurdly well-mannered charm - his "poshness" played with a twinkle, but never mockery. There is something disarmingly sincere in the way he befriends Mickey, and the strength of this bond - both in its innocence and its eventual fracturing - owes much to Daw's ability to carry emotional weight without theatrical grandstanding.
What particularly impresses is Daw's control in the second act. As the stakes rise and the inevitable tragedy gathers pace, he resists the urge to overplay Eddie's internal conflict. Instead, Daw lets silences linger, lets looks speak louder than lines. It is a mature performance, marked by restraint and emotional intelligence.
He handles the climactic scenes with a quiet devastation that proves all the more affecting for its understatement. When the truth unravels and the brothers confront their entwined fates, Daw shows us not just a man caught in circumstance, but a soul desperately clinging to the hope that love, or perhaps memory, might transcend it.
This is not a star turn in the brash, attention-seeking sense. But it is a star-worthy performance - crafted with care, intelligence, and genuine pathos. If this tour has done nothing else, it has revealed Graham Daw as a name to remember, and Blood Brothers as a musical that, in the right hands, still has the power to devastate.
* Sheridan Morley, c.1990s
