When Eddie and Mickey first meet up (pages 17-20), they are seven. They are unaware that they are twins. They become friends, and upon finding out that they are both born on the same day they become blood brothers. It is Eddie who first asks if the can be friends “will you be my best friend/” page 17.
The last key theme that I have chosen is unemployment. Pages 58-60. Only Eddie goes to universit7y. Mickey has got Linda and their baby support. However he loses his job in the factory. When Eddie comes home from university he learns that Mickey has lost his factory job, and that he can’t find another job. One example is:
Edward: What about the job you had?
Mickey It disappeared…
Page 59
Mickey is feeling very angry about his life and doesn’t want to talk to Eddie they have a big argument. From this we and see that they have two very different ideas about money work and life. This is another example of class.
I find that all of the Key themes inter mix. Willy Russell has mixed all of these themes so that no one theme is just one idea.
Explorative Strategies
During the course of our six drama workshops we used various explorative strategies. They were: Frozen images, thought tracking and chorus work. All of these techniques helped to enhance my understanding and appreciation of the play text.
A frozen image is an image/picture of a particular moment in time. The frozen image alone as to explain what is going on. We incorporated the use of Frozen images in one oh the workshops. This when we had to choose a theme from the play and created a frozen image that explains what the theme was. This helped me to under the play because I had to think like my character. I had to ask myself theses questions; “would my character stand like that?” “what would his face expression be?”2 and most importantly “what was my character thinking?” I appreciate the play more now because I understand what the characters were thinking and doing.
Thought tracking/speech bubbles are usually used in relationship with frozen images. It’s when all of the characters on stage use about a sentence to explain what there character are thinking at the time. We used this when we had to take four themes from the play and use a frozen image and thought tracking/speech bubbles to explain what each character was thinking. This helped my understanding and appreciation of the play, because I had to think like my character. It helped me to understand how each character was feeling at that moment in time.
Chorus work is when a collection off actors performs in unity. This means that they do everything together. We used this with the narrator’s speech. This helped me to understand the ambiguity of the narrator’s speech. Because this exercise also involved textual analysis, I could understand and interpret the speech.
Evaluation
The pair of actors that I am going to evaluate are Chloe Ladds and Lizzie Mcdurmick. The scene in which they participated was from a play called Blood Brothers. Blood Brothers is a play about twins who were separated at birth. It is when the characters Mickey and Eddie meet for the first time and become blood brothers.
I thought that Chloe’s costume for the role of Mickey was superb. She was dressed in baggy jeans, odd socks and an overlarge, dirty and paint stained t-shirt. Her use of facial expressions clearly conveyed the age of Mickey. Chloe’s voice took on the characteristic squeak of a young boy and her accent was suitably working class. Because movement is essential in the role of a small boy, Chloe had to keep moving and fidgeting to make the scene complete.
Lizzie’s Body langue was confident and believable. Because Eddie is supposed to be wealthy, tidy and well mannered, and act a lot older than seven, Lizzie used various techniques to convey her character successfully. Such as facial expressions and accent.
As a pair of actors they worked well together, they only blocked each other once. They delivered the scene with an even and punchy pace, making it exiting and involving the audience. They created a believable image of two young boys.
I found Lizzie’s costume bland and unimaginative. All she had done was to add a blazer to her normal school uniform. Her facial expressions, and voice were normal, and not that of a seven-year-old boy. As a pair of actors their uses of movement was very much confined to a small space. They only used a fraction of the whole stage available to them. There were certain points in the scene when there seemed to be some confusion between them. Chloe and Lizzie were restricted in their body langue. It was more the body langue of a 15 year old than of a seven-year-old boy
Improvements could have been made on Lizzie’s costume. Such as different blazers or a different tie. I also think that there is need for careful consideration of space and movement. The action could be more dynamic and involved. Facial expressions could have been used to a fuller extent. The body langue could also be improved.
Finally I thought that they worked well as a pair to create convincing seven-year-old boys. Chloe in particular was first-class and obviously putting an enormous about of work an effort into her character. I found Lizzie in comparison with Chloe gave a poor performance and could of done better. In an over all view I enjoyed the performance, and I am quite sure that the rest of my class did too.
