GCSE Drama Review of 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell.
GCSE Drama Review of 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell
As we walked into the auditorium of the Phoenix Theatre, London on Thursday 3rd July to see the matinee performance of the musical 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell, the first thing that struck me was the vibrant and rich red and gold paint. I also noticed that from the walls and ceiling you could detect what era the theatre was built in. On the walls of the Phoenix Theatre were Victorian paintings and the red and gold painted walls and the red seating all suggested that this theatre was built during the Victorian era. I sat down on row D, seat 19 so I was quite close to the stage, ready to watch the performance as the house lights dimmed.
The seats were very close to the stage making every performance quite intimate. The seating was raked and consisted of stalls, balconies and private boxes. e.g.
Set:
The Proscenium Arch stage was also raked, and before and partially into the beginning of the performance there was just a black gauze through which the set was visible. As the performance was a matinee the majority of the audience were High School teenagers but there were some elderly/middle-aged people in the auditorium as well. This meant that the atmosphere in the auditorium was buzzing which was probably due to the teenagers, and the fact that the 1600 seater auditorium was almost full.
Once the house lights went down and the rumbled of voices quietened, and the actors entered. The performance began at the end of the story. Through the gauze you could see the deceased Eddy and Mickey being carried off stage on stretchers. Then the gauze was lifted to reveal the set, which looked like this (following page):
The set contained two streets opposite one another; one side was the street where the Johnstone family lived so it looked rougher and poorer, and the opposite side was the street where the Lyon family lived so it looked elegant and grander. The set resembled an 70's-80's street.
Lighting:
Around the stage there were approximately 100 lights. Once the play began and the gauze was still down there was the first piece of significant lighting on the gauze. This was red and blue gobos, which represented water ripples. The red lighting may have been used to represent the blood of Eddy and Mickey, as the play began with the death of the twins.
The lighting on the stage was from the fairy lights used when it was night in the play to resemble the stars. There was also light coming from the windows of the houses in the street because this is where the musicians were seated.
Throughout the rest of the play the main gels used were red and blue, but pink and yellow were also used as well as plain white and cream. Blue was used when there was sadness and when the characters were feeling colder emotions. Red was used when there were emotions like romance, tension or when the characters were scared.
There was a time when all the different gels were used to resemble lighting of a disco. This was in the song 'Marilyn Monroe' sung by Mrs. Johnstone after the interval. She was describing the way that Mickey goes dancing, so a teenage Mickey came on in a leather jacket and black shades and started to dance madly on the stage to a rock version of 'Marilyn Monroe'! At the time in the play when Mickey, Linda and Eddy were all teenagers they went to the fair and to show that they were at the fair they used signs which had borders made out light bulbs to make the fair look alive!
Music
When the house lights went down there was music played that sounded like chants, making the audience aware that the play was about to begin. This music was recorded music, but the majority of the music was live and was played by the musicians in the windows of the houses. The acting company acted out most of the songs, but some were a completely solitary performance. The song that had the most action in it was a song called 'Kids Game', which was sung by all the children all aged between 7-10 so it was a ...
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Music
When the house lights went down there was music played that sounded like chants, making the audience aware that the play was about to begin. This music was recorded music, but the majority of the music was live and was played by the musicians in the windows of the houses. The acting company acted out most of the songs, but some were a completely solitary performance. The song that had the most action in it was a song called 'Kids Game', which was sung by all the children all aged between 7-10 so it was a very energetic number to reflect their age. There was a song called 'The Devil's Got Your Number' which was sung by the narrator first, when Mrs. Johnstone agreed to give one of her twins away to Mrs. Lyons. The song was repeated many more times throughout the play when either Mrs. Lyons or Mrs. Johnstone were remembering the deal they made and all the complications it has, and will cause. As they play goes on and the tension mounts the attitude in which the song is sung by the narrator gets nastier and the volume rises. This is because the two women are now paying for their mistake and are realizing how something so simple can grow in to something completely unexpected.
Actors:
Mrs. Johnstone - Linda Nolan:
She was the mother of the twins and the poorer one out of Mrs. Lyons and herself. Her class-working class-was reflected in her costume and her accent, as she had a Liverpudlian accent. Mrs. Johnstone's gestures were a lot gentler and affectionate towards her children than that of Mrs. Lyons. She also has an attitude like she wasn't really that bothered about whether her children's laces were tied or their shirts tucked in, just as long as they were safe and well. This attitude was developed by her facial gestures and body language as she used quite a lot of hand movement and she smiled frequently towards her children, even if she was feeling terrible she pus on a happy front just for them.
Mrs. Johnstone stood very close to the other characters, showing how much she trusts people. This trusty nature was displayed to us when Mrs. Johnstone comforted Mrs. Lyons on her first day of working for her. This intimate relationship towards the characters was also shown through Mrs. Johnstone's body language as she stood close to the characters she was talking to her facial expressions seemed to be very caring.
Mrs. Lyons - Sarah Hay:
Mrs. Lyons accent was in complete contrast to Mrs. Johnstone's. It reflected her class-middle class- as she had quite a posh voice. Her gestures towards Eddy were quite fidgety, she was always fretting over him- making sure his clothes and hair was neat so he looked respectful. This constant need to make Eddy look neat would be so the Lyons family kept up their reputation and Mrs. Lyons may have also been trying to cover up any likeness between Mickey and Eddy, so she was constantly fidgeting over him. This attitude was also reflected in the atmosphere she generated, as she was always quite nervous and twitchy, because she was always worried that the public or her husband would find out that Eddy wasn't her child and that he was the offspring of a working class family. You can see this nervous attitude from her facial expression as she always carried a worried look, and also from her body language as her hands always flustered nervously.
Mrs. Lyons' relationship with Mrs. Johnstone got more impersonal as the play went on. They stood further apart from one another and they spoke in raised voices. Mrs. Lyons was very protective of Eddy so she walked and sat very close to him all the time and didn't like feeling that she has no control over him.
Narrator - Phillip Stewart:
I think that the narrator was the character that had the highest status on stage. He didn't emotionally relate to any of the characters. You could see this reflection of impersonality towards the characters when he was face to face with a distraught Mrs. Johnstone or an excited Mickey his facial expression didn't alter, showing he had no understanding of the characters emotions.
The fact that the narrator didn't relate to any of the characters, means that they fear the narrator and are intimidated by him. Further more, the fact that the characters were actually aware of the narrator is unusual as most narrators are kept separate from the characters. This may be because the narrator acted as something more spiritual, like he was a figure of destiny or life who is moving the actors around like chess pieces.
He would creep up on people, or pull them away as he had the power to do this. He stood tall, had a domineering presence and was the person with the most authority. His accent, like his costume, was neutral, his tone was quite deep and the volume of his voice was load throughout the whole of the play.
Mickey Johnstone - Stephen Palfreman:
Mickey was brought up in the Johnstone family so he had the same accent as his mother- Liverpudlian.
7-8yrs: He was amazingly energetic and he completely took over the stage when he came on. He shouted, ran around madly, spoke in a high-pitched voice, muddled up his word and so reflected a seven year old boy in a physical and intellectual state. When he first came on stage he was banging on his door and sat down like this:
He started picking his nose e.t.c. He fidgeted constantly, scratching himself, and typically stretching his jumper over his legs. To reflect his age he spent a lot of time on the floor, as it was an adult playing a seven year old this made him look shorter.
He was very over powering, so when he was talking to the other characters there was about an inch between them-nearly nose to nose, so obviously like any seven year old he had no sense of personal boundaries.
2-14yrs: At this age he was desperately trying to impress Linda so he was doing typical 'guy poses' and walking with a skip in his step to try and look 'cool'. He also talked to her in a deep, what he thought to be, manly voice. He really wanted to impress Linda but he was also very nervous especially in Act two, Scene 1 when Linda asks Mickey to help him over the gate and as he approaches her she screams 'be gentle, be gentle...' which puts him off completely!
8+: Now he seemed a lot more serious because as he's on his own. When he's in prison you could see him slowly going mad. The carefree attitude he used to have had now disappeared. He was always very edgy, and he barely moved. In prison he was edgy but he felt safe, once he was out of prison he got even worse. He got angry with Linda when he didn't get his tablets and he was constantly sweating. His relationship towards Linda was reflected in his body language, as he seemed to stop showing affection towards her and never liked standing to close to any one. This distance was in contrast to the seven year old Mickey.
Eddy Lyons -Mark Hutchinson:
Eddy took after his mother in his accent as his was also quite posh. The tone of his voice was quite feminine and it was like this through all ages.
7-8yrs: Unlike Mickey, Eddy's voice was quieter and his movements were timid but once he was with Mickey and wasn't being over shadowed by his mother he could 'let go'. A typical example of this would be when Eddy, Mickey and Linda get caught by the police throwing stones through windows, and the policeman asks him: "What's your name?" and Eddy replies: "Adolph Hitler"!
So you can see that Eddy could be brave, even more so than Mickey and Linda, he just needed to be let out of his shell. Eddy's lexis was a lot different to Mickey's as he used words like 'smashing' and 'goodness'; whereas most of Mickey's lexis consisted of swear words.
Eddy didn't seem to change that much from the age of 7-18 years old. He still has quite a feminine voice he just sounded matured. As he grew up Eddy spent less time on the floor so he was taller, Mickey also used this tactic. Also, Mickey didn't influence him quite as much. Eddy's relationship with the characters was reflected in his distance between them and his body language. When Mrs. Lyons was fidgeting over him he tried to stop her. At first the distance between him and Mrs. Johnstone was far but as the play went on they got closer showing that their relationship was growing closer.
Linda - Louise Clayton:
Linda 7-8yrs: She had come from the same class as Mickey so she had a Liverpudlian accent too. Her voice was quite high pitched she was also very energetic. Her gestures and the distance between her and the other characters reflected her affectionate personality and like Mickey she had no sense of personal boundaries but she was a little more gentile than Mickey was!
2-14yrs: Now she was very confident especially towards Mickey. She was constantly telling Mickey that she loved him in public even though he didn't really like it that much. Her gestures were quite sexy towards Mickey as was her movement-swaying her hips as she walked was one example.
8+: Her tone was now a lot more mature and so were her clothes. When she went to go and visit Mickey in prison she always put on a happy face. As she was older she had more responsibilities so she wasn't as energetic and happy as she used to be.
Marriage seemed to have trapped Linda and all she wanted to do was to go back to her old carefree life. This was probably why she kissed Eddy because it was like starting again but you could always see that she still really cared for Mickey. Once Mickey was out of jail Linda tried to get close to him and to understand him but he just turned her away. The fact that she stayed with him showed just how much she cared for him. Her body language and gestures towards him weren't as confident as they were when she was fourteen.
It was Mickey who had the most comical value out of all the characters. When he first made his appearance in Act 1, Scene 2 as a seven year old, fidgeting madly and pulling his jumper over his knees it was really funny. When he was a teenager and he was trying to impress Linda he spoke in a deep voice, which made the whole audience laugh out load!
When sadder moments in the play came the lights were usually blue. The final scene of the play was a mixture of passion, fear, tension and sadness. When you were sitting on the edge of your seat wondering who was going to shoot whom, you could sense the tension in the auditorium. You could see the passion between Mickey and Eddy as they found out they were brothers from just looking at their faces and the fear from Mrs. Johnstone and Mrs., Lyons as they feared that Mickey was going to kill Eddy.
I thought that the play was very thought provoking as it made you think about the social injustice of our society today. This social injustice was the plays main theme along with superstition as the narrator frequently quoted superstitions like-'new shoes on the table'. Social Injustice is the basis of many other plays like 'Teechers' by John Godber. This play sends the message through the ideal of school, and the social injustice at the school.
I really enjoyed the play and I would definitely go and see it again. I thought that all of the actors performed their characters brilliantly and showed absolute commitment to their role throughout the whole of the play. They seemed to have got into their characters and know them of by heart.