We are shown how the divide is against them, when Edward comes back from university for Christmas, and Mickey tells him to go away because he has some problems. We can see that whilst Edward has being enjoying himself at university, Mickey has had to grow up quickly and take on a lot of responsibility. Unfortunately Edward can’t see this why this should affect them having a Christmas party and the friendship between them breaks down. Here we can see how the social divide has come between Mickey and Edward.
Looking at the relationship between Mickey and Linda we can see it develops a lot through the play. At the beginning they start of as just friends. As the play moves along we can see this develops into much more eventually they marry. We are shown how it develops through funny and serious scenes throughout the play. For example, when they are coming back from school and Linda wants help of the stile. The way Linda acts around Mickey, embarrasses him and we can see that she really likes him, and this is considered to be funny. A serious point in there relationship is when Mickey comes out of prison and he has changed. We can see that this affects their relationship dramatically and Mickey’s depression eventually drives them apart.
The play being about social status, means the audience can relate to it because this divide affects everyone at some point. I feel, as the audience, being able to relate to specific scenes can make a play more interesting, because you can understand what that character is going through.
Looking at the play I can see that there are similarities between ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ they both slip off to see each other, as their parents don’t want them to mix with the other family, and this is the same in ‘Blood Brothers’.
Also, In ‘Blood brothers’ I can see that the Johnstones and the Lyons are portrayed like the Capulets and the Montague’s from ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Also, in each play they open and close with the chorus. I can see at this point that Russell has gained inspiration from Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and he has incorporated some of this into ‘Blood Brothers’.
Russell having done this means those who enjoyed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ can relate certain parts from Shakespeare’s play into ‘Blood Brothers, making it an interesting comparison of 17th century work and modern work.
Russell using all of this has created a wonderful piece that has been very successful.
Yet. Its not only the themes and the comparisons between ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’, that have made this play successful, but its stage craft and characters that have provided us with a successful piece for the theatres.
Russell has created the play so the end is giving to you at the beginning, and you then know what everything is leading up to, all the way through.
Russell also uses the narrator very effectively.
Throughout the play the narrator is used as a commentator on events. When I watched the performance, I felt that the narrator was being used as the figure for the devil. I felt this because the narrator was watching over them the whole time and he kept on singing one particular song, ‘the devils got your number….’. The narrator also appeared a very powerful and menacing character that suggested to me he was the figure of the devil.
The narrator also appeared powerful and menacing to me because, the music used was very loud and powerful, it made me feel as if he was the devil.
I felt the music was used very well in the play and that it provide all the right kinds of atmosphere that were needed. Music is very powerful when it comes to creating emotion, and I felt the music used provided us with very powerful emotions and made the play that much better. I feel this was especially true for the narrator and the music played when he spoke. The music used gave me the feeling that the narrator was a form of the devil, as the music sounded menacing.
I feel that ‘Blood Brothers’ has been a great success because of the right balance of music and stagecraft, as well as been well written.
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