What Eddie doesn’t know is that he was given up at birth by his biological mother and given to what he thinks is his mother. When he is seven he bumps into a boy called Mickey Johnstone. Eddie thinks that Mickey is fantastic and everything about him is funny and exciting and as a result they become best friends and blood brothers also because they have the same birthday. What Eddie doesn’t know is that Mickey is his twin brother. As they were tried to be separated by their parents, it just led them to wanting to each other more. Separated for a while, they meet again but Eddie is immediately attracted to Mickey’s fancy Linda. When Mickey goes to prison he becomes very paranoid about Linda and Eddie, which has dreadful consequences for both of them.
Mickey, youngest of seven is a wild street-wise kid. Though he hasn’t had a great life with the fact that he hasn’t got any money and lives in a rough area he finds the support of his loving mother and best fiend Linda. When he was seven he met a boy called Eddie. He thought Eddie was brilliant. He loved his life and intelligence and wanted to be just like him. Due to the fact that Mickey and Eddie are best friends and have the same birthday they become blood brothers. What Mickey doesn’t know is that Eddie is his twin brother. When Mickey and Eddie were separated Mickey never forgot him. Because Mickey’s house was under demolition, him and his family move to the country where he finds that Eddie lives there to. They were best friends again including Linda as well. Mickey was in love with Linda but Eddie was attracted to her as well. When Mickey goes to prison, he is suddenly coping with depression and the paranoia of Eddie and Mickey, which makes the tragic end of the Johnstone twins
“Blood Brothers” is a great story, which has comedy, romance and tragedy all locked in. It will leave you laughing and crying all at the same time. A very creative story by Willy Russell which has all the issues of poverty and the economic crash of the eighties during the government ruled by Margaret Thatcher. It also shows the rough ages of Liverpool and the funny side of how serious things were at the time.
Explorative Stratergies.
Synchronised Movement – This is where all the actors of the same group move at the same pace and do the same movement. The way we did this strategy was by saying the phrase that was given to us and saying it three times whilst stamping our feet and clicking our finger. It could have been improved and more effective if we added some dramatic tension.
Freeze Frames – This is where all the actors of the same group are stood still and in a particular movement whilst another person in the group describes what’s going on the picture whilst in character. The way we did this was, we chose three scenes in Blood Brothers. The scenes we chose was the deal between Mrs. Lyons and Mrs. Johnstone, When Mickey and Eddie met and became Blood Brothers and where Mickey went to prison and left his family. It was effective because it brought a tension, which was really good for the atmosphere of the piece. We could have improved it by
Dramatic Pause - This is where a pause is produced and tension builds up in the room. I used this during a romantic scene with Linda and Mickey. During the time Mickey was about to kiss Linda there was a lot of tension but when he pulled away it was comical. At the end of the scene I (Mickey) when Linda left he had an outburst with a dramatic pause which brought a great atmosphere and awkward tension. It could have been improved if I had projected my voice.
Hot Seating – This is wear anybody is asked to be in role of a character straight away and answer questions related to the character/ Many who do it have to cope with pressure. The way I did this is, the group had time to write down the questions they were going to ask the characters including myself. The group all asked their questions to the people who in role of the characters who were Mrs. Lyons, Mrs Johnstone, Mickey and Eddie. The questions I asked were “How bad were to have given one of your children away?” To Mrs Johnstone and “What kind of person do you think Mrs Johnstone is like?” To Eddie. This was effective because the questions I asked were hard to answer and very straight forward. The way I could of improved it is I could of thought of two questions per character.
Forum Theatre – This is where a group of actors gather round in a circle and watch people act. There can only be 1-5 people in the circle and the group can make comments to improve what the actors are doing, change what the actors are doing or go in and replace the person yourself. The way I did it was I replaced the character of Eddie to show what I wanted the character to be like. What I wanted Eddie to be like was, was to be dramatic about everything and over-elaborate everything. It was effective because m voice projected; I brought character to my face and I made it comical. I could of improved it by being serious in more serious parts of the scene and more relaxed in others