The play is very humorous throughout, and the audience continually laughed, though there are some scenes that particularly stick out as funny. One such scene, in my opinion, is the scene where Micky, as a seven year old child, though played by an adult actor, recites his monologue, telling us how Micky longs to be older like his brother Sammy. It also tells how he’s not seven, he’s nearly eight, a very repetitive line that sticks in the memory due to the emphasis from the actor and typically childish way he whines and moans. This scene particularly stood out in my memory mainly due to the repetition of the line;
“But I’m not seven, I’m nearly eight” but also due to the comedy that is created by a fully grown actor pretending to be a seven year old child, and how comical yet truthful the performance is. A lot of skill is needed to successfully play a child when an adult, and the way the scene is written excellently allows the actor to show off their talent in acting like a child, whilst remaining realistic to the audience and carefully pulling off the monologue. The actor did this well in many ways, especially using his voice. Though, being a fully grown man, the actor had a deep voice, the way he seemed to whine, emphasised certain words and varied the tempo of the piece clearly showed his talent at playing a child and made the audience truly believe they were listening to a seven year old boy. This was also shown in the actor’s gestures and movement, such as the way he moved his hands, fidgeting with his clothes, sitting on the floor cross-legged and shifting from one foot to another, typical childish actions. The costume he was wearing was also perhaps the most obvious thing that showed he was playing a child, with his scruffy shorts, dirty socks and trainers, ill fitting shirt and tank top – complete with holes. This, though showing he almost state of poverty that the family love in, expresses Mickey’s age as it shows how he isn’t a respectable adult with good clothes, as the actor should represent, but a young lad who has been paying with his friends and getting dirty, as many children do.
Another scene that is particularly memorable of the ‘Judge’ scene, where a local judge becomes aroused at the thought of taking Mrs. Johnston dancing. This scene is perfect to show the light heartedness of some parts in the play, and allows the characters to become happy and show off their other sides, that some of the audience may have forgotten. The scene is specifically memorable, though, due to the blatant over exaggeration of the size of the judges’ manhood, again showing the light heartedness and childlike aspect of the play.
The play, though humorous, is excellent at mixing emotions; by the way the comedy can easily be replaced by sorrow for the characters and sadness at the events that have taken place. The obvious choice for the scene that stands out the most when considering sadness is the final scene, which though poignant, had already been shown ant the beginning of the play, therefore making it predictable. In my opinion, the saddest scene was that where Mrs. Johnston was forced to give up one her twins, who would later become Edward. This scene was very moving due to a number of things, but particularly swayed me because of the actor’s skill at making the audience totally believe what was happening. The devastation was apparent on the actor’s (Maureen Nolan) face, such as her saddened eyes and her make up, which had been used to show her age and the fact that she is quite young but that the years have taken their toll on her and she is now like a worn out old woman, though in reality she is probably quite young. The way the actor spoke also showed the pain she was going through, mainly in the way she shouted, pretending that she didn’t care, though to the audience it was clear from her facial expressions and the way she turned her body from the pram when Mrs. Lyons took the baby, not wanting to know who had been chosen. The way she acted after the event had happened also showed this pain, the pain shown by the way she whispered and walked away, slowly, like there was a great weight upon her shoulders, with the pram, now with only one baby inside, clearly showing the effect on the character. The scene shows how sad Mrs. Johnston’s life is, and how much of a struggle it is for her to cope.
The music featured within the piece plays a very strong part in creating an atmosphere, and was one of the highlights of the show. I believe that the music contributed to the action throughout the show, but especially at the end, and at any point when the mood changed, for example when the Johnston family moved. The music often highlights or creates tension, and songs very often tell a story, revealing the mood of the character and setting the scene. The background music often helped to keep the pace of the show up, keeping it interesting, and though repetition of songs can sometimes become boring, the repetition of the Narrator’s song “Shoes Upon The Table” emphasised the link of superstition within the story, making the audience refer back to the event that occurred at the beginning of the show.
The set used within the play was very effective though very simple, with the main set never changing. One feature of the set was the way the stage was cleverly raked, allowing all audience to see the entirety of the events occurring on the stage, including actors behind others, who perhaps would not have been able to see had the stage not been raked. One point about the show that kept it flowing and clearer to understand was the fact that it had no blackouts or scene changes. This meant, though, that props used on the stage were often the actor’s responsibility, with them having to carry them on and off the stage. Though some people may see this as a problem, and though it did make the work more difficult for the actors, in my opinion, it was a lot better to have this technique used then for there to have been scene changes, which would have defiantly lost some the tension, pace and smoothness that the play featured. A whole scene can be changed by the use of props, and this worked well in many points of the play, especially the scene where the characters are on the bus and in the cinema.
Some of the set that was used, including the main set, trucks and flies used, often helped to make the play a lot more visually interesting and clear for the audience. The way the set was detailed with things such as graffiti, and the way the flooring changed from brick paving to wooden from one side of the stage to the other helped the audience to understand the scenes in which the Johnston and Lyon’s family appeared, and though only the inside of the Lyon’s house was seen, it was clear that Mrs. Johnston was a lot poorer, which was aided by the way her house was set against the rough looking back streets of Liverpool. Also, showing only some of the interior of houses and other places such as he school was quite effective as it gives away enough information to set the scene for the audience but it was not so distracting that the audience were taken in by the set rather than the actors and the play, something that would perhaps result in a loss of tension and enjoyment of the story.
The lighting was also used very cleverly within the show, in many different ways and times. The way the lighting was used to highlight the Narrator was particularly effective, especially when used as dramatic irony when the audience can see that the Narrator is there but the characters cannot. It is also effective when the lights change from focusing on the scene to when the Narrator talks to the audience, as though the actors are right next to each other, the lighting clearly shows that they aren’t really together and that they unaware of each other, though the Narrator is often able to see the other characters, but they cannot see him. The lighting also plays an important part in setting the scene and reflecting the mood of the characters, as this helps the audience to understand the character, and also is good at showing the mood changes within characters, such as when Linda runs from Mickey to Edward; where the lighting changes from a dark, badly lit scene to a brighter stage, reflecting life with the two boys.
Costume was a factor that obviously played a large part in the enjoyment of the play, and helped the audience to establish who the characters were, and the age of the parts the actors were playing were. The two main characters, Mickey and Edward, wore particular clothes throughout the show that were particularly effective at showing the difference in status between them, and their age at the particular point in the show.
When the boys first meet as seven year old kids, it is clear the come from different backgrounds from the clothes they wear alone. With Mickey looking the typical child from a poor family in his short trousers and scruffy, holey jumper, Edward is clearly from a very different background in his perfectly starched shirt, shorts and parted hair.
As time goes on, the changes remain apparent, even down to the littlest detail, and with larger pieces of costume such as the coats the characters wear and their shoes. It is very effective to see this difference as it reminds the audience how although they are brothers and close friends, they lead totally different lives. This is also apparent to Mrs. Johnston, who often looks sad at the difference between the two boys, and it is clear that she wishes she had never given Edward up, and he was there with Mickey in scruffy hand-me-downs, but enjoying life as a member of the Johnston family. When the boys are older and the go out together though, the costumes they wear still play a large part in showing their status, especially when they go to the cinema, where Mickey is wearing a denim jacket and jeans, showing his common and poorer standard of living, compared to Edward, who goes out wearing a think coat, with smart trousers, a tie and shoes.
One feature of the play that was unusual was the fact that the end of the play was shown at the beginning, though behind a gauze, giving it the kind of feeling it wasn’t really happening. I believe that the end of the play was shown at the beginning so the audience know where the play is heading, and are therefore allowed to pay more attention to the characters and the action rather than where the play is heading. This, I believe, is a good technique, though possibly harder for the actor, as it makes the audience really study the character and their story, and leaves them trying to figure how it fits in with the ending. I liked this way of showing the play, especially as it was behind the gobo, though I can understand why some people may not like the fact the ending is given away, and would have preferred to see the play in chronological order.
The play showed many dramatic techniques, including cross cutting from scenes, narrating, freeze frames and tableaux, though I believe the most impressive was the way the majority of the actors used multi-role play. I was particularly impressed by this due to the clear change within the character, and the way it was possible for them to play a totally different role within a small space of time. The clearest change of character was the way all the actors played childhood friends of Mickey, but later on in the play they were all adults, playing professionals in jobs such as policemen and teachers. This was good as well, as the cast appeared to be quite large, with many different actors playing the different roles, though the cast was very small, and it was the same actors playing the different parts, which, if it is done well, is very effective.
When the actors playing Mickey (Richard Munday) and Edward are playing them as children, there are many things they do to show the age of the character they are playing, and they were very good, as it was very clear they were playing children not only by the language but they way they acted, too. One such thing that clearly showed the age of the children was the voices they used to say the lines. The actor playing Edward (Craig Whiteley) though his lines were spoken in a posh voice, still managed to show his youthfulness and innocence through his high pitched voice and often surprise at things that Mickey said. Mickey, however, shows off his youth in a very different way, using a very common accent and slang, and his childish swearing and whispering just add to his boyish charm. Another thing that shows the boys’ youth is the way neither of them can stay still, as they fidget all over the stage throughout most of their scenes as kids. The way they actually moved also revealed a lot about the age of the character they were playing, sliding on the floor and stomping around, as well as jumping and running, attributing to their youthfulness. Their body language, gestures and the way they played games additionally showed the way they were pretending to be seven year old boys.
Many of the characters within the play used gestures and voice to show the character they were playing and their status, for example the differences between Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. Lyons. At the beginning, when Mrs. Johnston is pregnant and working at the Lyons’ house, she is very common with a strong Liverpudlian accent. The character is shown to be quite weak, and the costume she wears also shows off her standard of living – she is quite poor. Mrs. Lyons, however, is clearly from a much better class, shown in her speech, the fact she has no accent, the way she walks and stands and in her clearly expensive costume. The changes are apparent within everything, and from the audiences point of view it was clear who the actors were playing and the type of character they were meant to be.
Overall, I think the play was an extreme success. Many pieces of the show made me laugh, sad, and I even cried at the end of the performances, after a particularly moving show, that was not only well written and well acted, but well performed. All aspects of the show lived up to their expectations, and simple as everything was, it was one of the most effective and believable pieces of drama I have ever seen. I enjoyed the performance very much, and due to the brilliant performance I saw, would not hesitate to go and see it again.
