The play we saw was Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre in London. It was the 3pm viewing on the 5th November 2009.

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Blood Brothers Evaluation

Introduction

The play we saw was Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre in London. It was the 3pm viewing on the 5th November 2009.

Act 1: The play begins with a deep red lighting on the stage. Two figures lie down on red stretchers, surrounded by police a grieving mother. Throughout the whole performance there is a narrator that plays a very strong part in the story. He explains the story making it clear to the audience what is happening. He is also a very eerie character that adds dramatic tension at many places in the show. He introduces us to Mrs Johnstone. Johnstone then sings “tell me it’s not true”. Following this a flash back is used to cast the setting back to the late 1950’s and the story begins. Mrs Johnstone works as a cleaner for a rich woman called Mrs Lyons. Mrs Johnstone falls pregnant and explains to Mrs Lyons that she cannot afford to keep both of the baby boys she is carrying. Mrs Lyons suggests giving one of the babies to her. Mrs Johnstone then agrees and gives Mrs Lyons one of them. Mrs Johnstone’s child is called Mickey and Mrs Lyons child is called Eddie. Mrs Johnstone continues to work for Mrs Lyons, but after a while Mrs Lyons considers Mrs Johnstone to be a threat and decides that she does no longer want her around. Mrs Lyons believes in superstition that twins separated at birth should never meet and if they do, they will die. The story then moves forward 7 years. Mickey through chance happens to meet his twin Eddie but they have no idea that they are brothers at all. After finding out that they both share the same birthday they become blood brothers. They do this by slightly cutting each others hand and shaking hands so that their blood is together. Mrs Lyons discovers that Eddie is mixing with Mickey. She then realises that the last name is the same and that Eddie must be the other twin. Still believing in the superstition that twins separated at birth should never meet, Mrs Lyons decides to move house. When Eddie says goodbye to Mrs Johnstone, she gives him a locket with a picture of herself and Mickey. Eddie is oblivious that Mrs Johnstone is his actual mother. Thinking that they will never see Eddie and Mrs Lyons again; by chance Mrs Johnstone and her family get re-housed in the countryside.

Act 2: Eddie and Mickey are now 14 years old. Mrs Johnstone and her family haven’t seen Eddie or Mrs Lyons since Mickey was 7. Mickey now has a crush on a girl called Linda. Mrs Lyons see’s Mrs Johnstone near her house and begins to worry again about the made up superstition. Later on, Eddie and Mickey bump into each other and go and meet up with Linda. Eddie has feelings for Linda, but he won’t say anything because he knows that Mickey does too. Eddie then leaves to go to university but before he does he encourages Mickey to ask Linda out. Whilst Eddie is at university, a lot of changes happen. Mickey discovers that Linda is pregnant and they decide to get married. But Mickey has been fired from his job, which forces him onto the dole and leaves him in depression. Eddie returns from university boasting about how great it is, but Mickey realizes that they are both very different people now and after a small fight, they part. Mickey is desperate for money, so he assists his brother Sammy in a robbery. Whilst doing this he becomes an accessory to murder and is sentenced to 7 years in prison. In prison Mickey is suffering from chronic depression and relies on anti-depressant drugs to help him. He is released from prison early due to good behaviour, but is still very dependant on his anti-depressant drugs. His and Linda’s relationship is not going well and she tries to help but Mickey doesn’t want any help. Linda then contacts Eddie and after a romantic fling in the park Mrs Lyons spots them. Mrs Lyons tells Mickey and he goes ‘insane’ and grabs a gun. He then storms down the council office to confront Eddie. The final scene is set in the council offices where Eddie works. Whilst Eddie is giving a speech Mickey bursts in with a gun in his hand. Mickey starts to say to Eddie in despair that I could have been you. And that he could have had a life like his. Eddie has everything and Mickey has nothing, only Linda. But Eddie tried to take that away which makes Mickey extremely angry. Eddie denies all of it and tries to calm Mickey down. The police then enter from the audience and take aim on Mickey with their guns. They tell Mickey that they are armed and to put the gun down. Mrs Johnstone runs in to stop Mickey. She tells Mickey and Eddie the truth about them being brothers. Mickey is deeply upset and aims the gun at Eddie. He then accidently pulls the trigger instantly killing Eddie. Mickey attempts to shout that it was an accident but the police shoot Mickey at almost the exact same time. This means Mrs Lyons superstition came true. The scene is set out in the exact same way as it was at the start showing clearly that it was a flashback. The final song is “tell me it’s not true” in which the entire cast comes onto stage and sing the final chorus and take their bows.

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Set Design

There were houses on either side of the stage which also provided entrance’s and exits for the stage. On the one side there were terraced council houses that Mickey lived in, and on the other side there were more upmarket houses where Eddie lived.

On the more run-down side where Mickey lived, there were spray painted goals on the back wall and the two main football teams were spray painted on the back wall as well. The houses were very run down with broken windows and showed that their house was in working class surroundings. ...

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