November 28th 1954 – that’s the day I waved ‘Goodbye’ to New York, that’s the day I said ‘Goodbye’ to the past. Rose’s existence is no more, it sleeps with the fishes. I don’t like speaking of what happened with my family but I wake up every day and the memory of that day sticks with me like a shadow. It’s now fifteen years since my mother’s passed on and maybe I do get a little sentimental sometimes.
The day was cold, it always is in New York at that time of year. I’d been shopping with Sam, he was a Jewish kid who I used to knock about with. He was babbling on something rotten about how we should develop our relationship and how we should get engaged. He dragged me around jeweller stores for hours that day but I wasn’t keen to commit myself to anything. All I wanted to do was buy a new record for my mama’s birthday. She would have been 53 the following Thursday.
Rose laughs to herself and walks to the opposite side of the stage.
Sammy was always very possessive of me, I remember this one time we were walking down by the docks, and I had my hair tied back and was wearing my tweed skirt with a pair of ankle shoes. One of those young Italian boys that used to hang around there wolf whistled at me. Why Sam was not happy, he started shouting on the street and kicking off, I didn’t like it but he always said that he got like that over other men because he loved me. That made me feel real special, like a real woman and not just my daddy’s little girl.
My Daddy had always warned me to stay away from Jew boys, he didn’t like all that switching religions business, he said it was as bad as being gay or being a murderer. I tried to listen – I was scared that he would hurt Sam if he ever caught us. Even before my mother died, me and Sam had plans o’ getting out of Manhattan. When she passed away, I wanted to leave there and then (angrily). I just wanted to pack my things and go (Rose gets up and motions picking up a suitcase with her saddle bag and then drops it down and perches on the floor), just wanted to pack my things and leave.
But then I went into the house and seen little Willie, his eyes glazed with fresh tears, staring at the ceiling. He brought it all home to me that I couldn’t go without him…
Rose looks at her watch.
Time went by, I suppose I waited for three or four weeks ‘til my mother’s funeral and my Daddy’s sentence passed ‘til I decided to do something. Daddy got life. I knew he wouldn’t get off lightly, murderers never do. He couldn’t hack it either. They found him three days later in his jail cell dangling from the ceiling. He was swinging from a scarf Mother had made him the previous Christmas. I wasn’t sad, I wasn’t anything, and I just sat down with a cup of malt and continued on my tapestry. Rose freezes and there is a flashback to 1954. A spotlight draws the audience to a younger version of Rose sitting at a table. She is miming pretending to embroider a piece of material. The spotlight dims but the audience can still see the younger Rose in the background. She freezes and remains in a tableau until the end of the monologue. The scene now switches back to Rose who is now in pitch black with the dim spotlight upon her. The scene reverts back to the older Rose who continues her monologue under a bright stage light.
* Spotlights will draw great attention to the flashbacks and cross –cuttings. When this happens the actor speaking the monologue freezes and resumes her character once the flashbacks and cross – cuttings have ended. The actors who are featured as a figment of Rose’s imagination freeze once Rose begins to talk again.
Sammy went by the by, we drifted apart and now he’s married to a woman called Marion. The last I heard they’re very happy and they’re expecting a baby. Rose freezes again and the scene cross – cuts to Sam and his expectant wife. The technique with the light is repeated and we see Sam stroking the stomach of his spouse. The two characters also remain in sight of the audience but freeze when the scene cross – cuts back to Rose who continues to talk.
When Willie was eighteen, he got a job at a hardware store. He liked it and grew in the business. He scooped up a bit of money and invested in a chain of stores and now he’s earning big bucks – on the same level as some of the top businessmen in the Big Apple. I must admit I was slightly suspicious about Willie’s riches but he just calls it ‘stocks and shares.’ I haven’t seen Willie since last fall, his wife Lucille writes to me and tells me that they’re doing great. The scene cross – cuts to Willie who is standing up hugging his wife, the three children are skipping around them. See the previous directions for the technical instructions. They are miming.
I always thought that I would be the first to settle down and have babies first but I guess Willie was an early starter. I have two nephews Vincent and Francis, and a baby niece called Katharine. I haven’t managed to see the baby yet, she’s only six months old. I haven’t been able to get the money together to go and visit - it’s very expensive these days.
Willie said he’d pay for my trip from Los Angeles to New York but I can’t expect him to do that for me. I don’t like to ask him for anything, he’s my younger brother. The neighbours always thought that Willie would be a tyrant when he grew up and that I would make something of myself.
It’s the direct opposite, Willie’s a money machine and Judy here stands waiting on tables in a diner in a Beverley Hills for a measly $3.60 an hour. Well I suppose that it’s the closest I’ll ever get to Hollywood. I dunno whether moving here was a good choice, I got in with this casting director I met in a bar in Brooklyn one night. I knew he was attracted to me, he introduced himself as Tony, kissed my hand and said that I could call him ‘T.’ Stupid immature me, he bedazzled me, he promised me a life o’ fame and fortune in Hollywood. I thought that it would be a true rags to riches story but I ended up as an extra in a Spanish sitcom that they broadcasted at midnight in Peru. I changed my name to Judy, ‘Judy Darnell,’ I thought that it would sound better if it was announced at an Oscar ceremony.
Rose pretends that she is at the Oscars. She talks dramatically in an overpowering, sickly tone. ‘And the award for lifetime achievement goes to…’ She switches to her normal self. Who cares, it wasn’t me, it never will be. I was fooled. The scene cross – cuts to ‘T’ and a younger Rose. They flirt with one another. Repeat previous technical directions. Tony and young Rose freeze and the older Rose talks.
I used to believe that ya get outta life what you put into it, not anymore. I don’t believe anything, I have no morals, no values, no importance. I have nothing. The stage blacks out. Rose’s voice is heard over the darkness. She is still asleep. The actor who plays Rose climbs into the bed and conceals herself with the covers while the girl playing the silent Rose in the bed quickly gets out. The audience cannot see her as the smoke is still billowing around the stage. The bed moves in front of the curtain as it shuts behind.
And that’s why I am dead inside, noone will remember me, I will remember noone – I know noone. I have no one to remember. No one has me to remember. I died a long time ago. The stage lights up and Rose is seen wriggling about in her sleep, she wakes up and looks at her reflection in the mirror by her bedside. She screams out loud and there is a blackout.
At the peak of the drama workshop, students were asked to recreate the scene where Mr. Maurant shoots his wife and her love affair, Sankey the milkman. There were four groups with approximately six or seven pupils in each.
Each student was given a photocopy of the script and decided amongst themselves who would play which parts. In order to plan the scene, I used a storyboard to map out the actions and positions of the actors (see overleaf).
There are a range of characters in ‘Street Scene;’ Italians, Jews and Americans. Therefore it is vital that there are distinctions between all of them. The characters in ‘Street Scene,’ certainly the men reminded me of the characters featured in ‘The Godfather.’ I used my knowledge from the films on 1920s Gangsterism that I had watched in the past including ‘in order to mature my voice and body language.
When playing Mr. Maurant during the murder, I spoke in a deep, gruff voice, I elaborated on ‘r’ sounds and regularly dropped ‘h’s . I used a lot of New York slang such as ‘jug’ rather than ‘jail’ and often only said the first letter of each word. For example when saying a line such as: ‘You have to help me, I will go crazy in here otherwise,’ I would mentally translate it to: ‘Y’ gotta help me, Iya go crrazy in heeya otherwize.’
I pictured Mr. Maurant as a character who would use subtle actions and was not very physical. I staggered slightly, I put my hand in my pocket and held my neck low. I thought that he would not move around the stage but instead lightly bounced when he spoke. Mr. Maurant was the pinnacle of attention and any action would be centred on him.
Mrs. Maurant was not extremely active during this scene neither, she is in a heightened state of anticipation because she does not know what Frank will do to her and her lover, Sankey. She does not have many lines but when she speaks she screeches because she is frightened. Mrs Maurant’s accent is not defined in this scene, she is literally screaming in fear of her husband. During most of the scene, she is frozen, the attention is directed on Mr. Maurant, everyone is under his control because he possesses a loaded gun.
To simulate violence in the murder scene, Mr. Maurant grabs his wife by the hair and drags her down the stairs. The actor playing Mr. Maurant grabs the actor playing Mrs. Maurant’s, head. She puts her hand on top of his hand and controls the direction in which her head is yanked. This is an effective technique and saves the actor from having her hair pulled out violently.
The onlooking crowds are also standing still frankly watching in amazement at Frank who is preparing to pounce. The tension is impending upon the audience and the actors.
I feel that a ‘Street Scene’ performance would be successful in a forum theatre. This is because it would create a realistic perspective for the audience. In a forum theatre, onlookers will not necessarily view the front of the actors throughout the play because they are working to entertain an audience placed at four different angles (see sketch). Therefore, the structure of the auditorium would form an alike atmosphere similar (and would therefore establish) to that of the stoop. Certain characters in ‘Street Scene’ did not know all that went on between Mr. and Mrs. Maurant and likewise the audience earns a slightly vague interpretation of some circumstances because of the stage layout. This helps them to form their own opinions of specific personalities and not reap the complete profile of a character until all is revealed at the end.
The group decided to use pieces of the rostra to create levels. There were three platforms each at different heights. Sam sat on the bottom level and looked up to Mr. Maurant when he spoke to him, this reminded the audience that Mr. Maurant looks down to Sam and has a greater status. The second level was where Buchanan announced to the audience that Mrs. Maurant and Sankey were dead. This higher platform separates Buchanan from other characters highlighting him against others as he unleashes the tragic news. The third platform which was the highest, was where the actual murder took place. The third level being the highest point on the stage represents the climax of ‘Street Scene’ – the peak of action in the play.
The speed at which the drama is performed has an effect upon the audience. There is a contrast at the beginning of the scene. Mr. Maurant has come home from work early and is going about his business as per usual. His approach at the start is average, but Sam (who is also on stage) is in a state of panic. He is fully aware that Sankey is upstairs with his mistress, Mr. Maurant’s wife. He tries to act as a deterrent to move Mr. Maurant away from the house but Frank immediately looks up to see his wife behaving shockingly with another man. The speed of the scene is dramatically increased as Mr. Maurant becomes infuriates and tries to bustle past Sam to reach his cheating wife. The play reaches a climax when Maurant murders Sankey and Mrs. Maurant. He then threatens the community with his gun. The audience anticipate that he might strike again and there is a tense atmosphere amongst them. The tension does not settle because Mr. Maurant has not yet been arrested, it is only when Rose arrives that everyone, especially Sam, begins to act calm for her sake. Rose ups the anxiety once more when she detects that something has happened and flees upstairs to find her mother dead, this makes the audience feel sympathetic to Rose because she has been left without a maternal figure.
The idea of Mr. Maurant holding a gun enhances the intensity of the scene. Using props makes a scene more realistic and believable. The use of hands to pretend to shoot a gun does not enthral an audience and they instantly forget about how genuine the story is and channel their concentration elsewhere.
Time restraints meant that we were unable to use music whilst performing the play. Ideally I would have liked to have seen Sam listening to uplifting dance music on his radio, for example ‘The Waltz.’ When Mr. Maurant runs upstairs to shoot Mrs. Maurant and Sankey, he could have knocked the radio so that it switched itself off. However after the murder and after Rose’s discovery, a member of the crowd knocks the radio, by coincidence and the music begins to play again. Nevertheless this time, a miserable and sombre classical tune is playing, i.e. ‘The Death March.’
The idea of the music changing from happy to sad represents how things for a moment were sound but tragedy eventually confronted the momentary happiness. Mrs. Maurant not long before her murder was happily spending time with a man she truly loved; Sankey but this reverts to sadness when they are both killed.
During the play there was also a petty conflict about whether dance music was better than classical and vice versa. The idea of both playing at such an eventful time could prove that each musical piece have equal talent and are suitable for different times - either joy or sadness.
This idea of two sorts of music playing might indicate to the audience that after the police have dealt with Mr. Maurant, there will be freedom for everyone to have their own opinions. Mr. Maurant would not regard opinions different to his own but this contrast between the music could indicate that in that same community, people will be different to each other in the future. Sam will be able to marry Rose regardless of whether he is Jewish and she will be able to make her own decisions even if they do not abide by what her father had once preached to her.
‘Street Scene’ has allowed me to develop my dramatic skills and has genuinely taught me to take risks. Its New York setting has meant that I have had to use an American accent rather than an English accent, use masculine gestures whilst pretending to be Mr. Maurant instead of feminine motions, as well as having to imagine what life was like nearly 85 years ago in the 1920s.
Using a script has meant that I have had to adapt to a scenario rather than a scenario adapting to me. Generally, when performing role – plays in class, I am able to adjust a given story and use it to my advantage. The script has meant that I must follow a detailed criteria whilst distinguishing my character so that it can be different to everybody else’s.
The concept of being filmed has also made me consider positioning on stage and consciously knowing that every movement or noise will be picked up on camera has enforced a new type of discipline onto me that I hope to pursue during other dramatic performances.
Evaluation
‘Blood Brothers’ was written by Willie Russell and is set in Liverpool between the 1960s and the 1980s. A tragic drama that delves into the life of a woman, mother to five children and also expecting twins, who struggles to earn money as a cleaner. Abandoned by her husband, she is confronted by the rich owner of the house which she works in, who pleads to parent one of the twins once they are born in return for a sum of money profitable for the toiled family.
Russell discussed class divisions through the language, imagery and music of ‘Blood Brothers’ which was written in response to the Recession and a complaint against Thatcherism. Traditionally comedies are not tragic but Willie Russell is able to blend the two genres.
During the Recession, there were high unemployment rates amongst the working – class people. The clash of class and status in ‘Blood Brothers’ was emphasised and the difference between rich and poor became distinct due to the historical, social and cultural aspects that Russell addressed.
For example, Mrs. Johnston was a cleaner, Mrs. Lyon didn’t need to work. When Mickey met his brother, he called him Eddy although he was used to ‘Edward’ at home in a middle – class environment.
The obstacle of status that existed between Edward and Mickey instigated problems and variation within ‘Blood Brothers.’ For instance Edward attending university brought to light to Mickey how different he was from his best friend. His absence also created problems for Linda who was confused about which man she loved and whom she wanted to spend her life with.
The distinctions between the Lyons and the Johnstons were important because they triggered emotions amongst the audience. Inevitably, the audience felt compassion towards the grafting Mrs. Johnston but didn’t really feel sorry for Mrs. Lyon. Russell wrote the play so that there was depth and the barrier between the working – class and middle class created further tension because situations such as the developing friendship between Mickey and Eddie were more difficult to overcome. The boys were from extreme backgrounds and the combination of the two added humour to the grievous topics of the musical.
The historical and social aspects commanded the characters to follow a certain regime that permitted them to do certain things but disallowed them to contribute to others. Mickey wasn’t expected to do well for himself when he was older because he was from a family that were never used to anything. Therefore he could swear, he could be naughty because people presumed he had nothing to offer as a working – class child.
Edward, on the other hand, went to boarding school and was foreseen to attend to Oxford University. Public perception (including the expectations of the audience) amongst the middle – class folk who he knew and interacted with at school or elsewhere, anticipated that he would do well hence he couldn’t be as rebellious as was Mickey because the society that he was part of pressurised him to follow in their example.
The contrasts between the societies that Mickey and Edward were from, meant that their personalities were diverse to one another. Although they were the best of friends, their reputations meant that they would always be different to one another. This difference forced them to lead separate lives that eventually conflicted with their friendship causing variation and climax to the drama when Mickey believed he simply wasn’t capable of being a true acquaintance to Edward.
The audience envisages the difficulty as the mother battles with her conscience and abandons her Christian values to donate one of her babies to her employer (who awaits her war – bound husband) so long as she is able to visit regularly.
The babies are born and years later, ignoring the vow she made, the surrogate mother whisks away to the country once she realises that the twins have become best friends, unaware that they are brothers yet inseparable and influenced by one another’s contrasting backgrounds. Unable to accept their friendship, the Lyon family moves and the siblings are divided once again until they reunite when Mrs. Johnston and her children are transferred from the dreary Merseyside streets to the picturesque landscapes of the countryside along with fellow residents of the council estate.
The musical is set upon a proscenium stage with two backdrops, alternately used in the show; one of the Liverpool waterfront and the other of arable hills in the country. There is an adaptable box set of housing and alleyways. Flying flats are used to create different scenes and there are two levels developed from the box set and the flying horizontal ramp.
The stage is divided into two areas, the scruffy Johnston district and the elaborate surroundings of the Lyons. Centre stage acts as a communal ground for park scenes, cinema scenes etc.
The title ‘Blood Brothers’ is relevant to a scene in the play when Mickey Johnston asks Edward Lyon to be his blood brother. This scene provokes a nervous atmosphere amongst the audience who is aware of the boys’ relationship yet the children don’t realise the irony of their promise. They both suffer painful jabs to the hand that in theory binds them as brothers because they are oblivious that they are closer than thought yet distance between the pair is inflicted by the parents. Both mothers are stricken by guilt and Mrs. Johnston initially prefers Eddie to throw away his relation with Mickey to protect her conscience. Mrs. Lyon abhors Mickey’s influence over Edward and she is also bound with guilt for faking pregnancy and bringing up a son whom she did not bear.
Fast – moving scene changes were made possible by the actors bringing on and off basic props to create different scenes diverse to the permanent setting of the two opposing residential areas of the rich, middle class Lyon family and the poorer working – class Johnston family. For example, when Linda, Mickey and Edward were on the bus on the way to school, chairs were placed in rows of four with an aisle running between identifying two chairs on each side.
Each actor continuously jogged their bodies up and down as though they were actually on a bus and moving accordingly as the bus drove over sketchy roads. When the bus supposedly turned corners or braked abruptly, the actors would correspondingly to a certain side of the bus.
It was essential that scene changes were prompt in order to sustain the attention of the audience rather than a number of blackouts or curtains that would have slowed down the drama, reduced tension and reminded the audience that they were in the theatre and the events were unreal. Although some such as Bertolt Brecht opposed the idea of an audience ultimately enthralled in to a piece of theatre, the issues raised in ‘Blood Brothers’ were emotionally appealing. They demanded the audience to unleash true emotions and Russell’s objective, to enlighten and entertain, meant that he expected the drama to run as smoothly as possibly without unnecessary interruptions.
The body movements that accompanied basic props to create complex scenes were highly engaging for it proved that drama can be highly entertaining and realistic regardless of intricate settings and hi – tech stage designs. The use of basic props such as chairs, and no props at all in certain situations caused the audience to use their imagination. For example, Mickey, Edward and Linda, a best friend of the brothers, would jump onto gallop upon illusory horses when playing ‘Cowboys and Indians.’ This was funny but highlighted to me that when performing, physical actions with the body and props is just as important as the tone of voice and facial expressions. It is easy to animate the voice and face but an audience expects an actor to accentuate with arms, legs, etc.
The style of acting in ‘Blood Brothers’ was ensemble. The cast was small and able to shift scenes with significant speed which added pace to the drama. I thought that a small cast was ideal because most scenes concentrated on a smaller number of people and there were never usually more than four people on stage at the same time. This meant that the cast members with smaller parts were able to play more than one role because they had enough time to change between scenes and most of the events were based around the main characters. A smaller cast means that those with minimal roles have more to do for the work is divided between fewer people therefore they have more opportunities to perform and create a number of different characters.
The brothers meeting satisfied the audience’s anticipation yet it represented the clashing of contrasting societies as well as an emotional union of two distant twins. The encounter between rich and poor was distinguished through costumes and accents.
Typically, Mickey, the poorest, appeared emaciated, opted for a distinct Scouse accent and wore tatty hand – me – downs. Although streetwise, uneducated and meddlesome, his conversation and physicality’s provided comic relief to such a tense storyline.
Unlike his brother, Edward, the richest, was immaculate, dressed smart, he was articulate and his innocent inquisitions about life as a child upon the Liverpool streets, that he was removed from, were humourous and earned him popularity amongst the audience. For example, the episode with his mother when he swore at her after talking to Mickey without realising it was a bad word. This was highly funny and caused the audience to reflect upon the innocence of children and their vulnerability towards other people’s influences.
Superstition and fate played fundamental roles in ‘Blood Brothers.’ Mrs. highlighted superstition when her employer placed shoes on the table. With a shriek, she persuaded her to remove them. Although Mrs. Lyon was oblivious to superstitious traditions, she pursued these beliefs later on in the musical. Although she was cruel to her employee for keeping Edwards away from her, it proved that maybe she did value Mrs. Johnston regardless of the class barrier between them.
There was an element of superstition between the reunion of the twins. It was proposed that they would die if they met after long – term separation. Therefore the audience are anxious and anticipate the deaths of Mickey and Edward due to the superstition addressed earlier in the play.
Although poor, Mrs. … did have standards that she inflicted upon her children despite Sammy who was led astray and consequently Mickey was put into jail for his crimes. This contributed to Mickey’s mental deterioration thus leading him to desert Linda, who he married (although she was emotionally torn between the two), and Edward and threaten to kill him. Mickey’s illness led to his and Edward’s death when police burst into the scene, shooting both and creating a climax to the play.
The climax was expected due to the inclusion of fate highlighted by the use of a narrator. The narrator represented fate and conscience and made the action continuous throughout scenes.
The narrative technique was highly effective. He spoke in rhyme and did not converse with the other actors but would often stand watching a scene analysing it and summarising at regular intervals.
The rhyme scheme of his speeches made it easier for the audience to remember what he said. At the beginning of the play, he spoke over two dead bodies (Mickey’s and Edward’s) of two brothers born on the same day and who died on the same day. Immediately, the audience recognise that the events have happened and when the drama flashbacks to the beginning of their lives, they already know that they are fated to die.
The narrator had a diplomatic tone, he wasn’t physically active because he didn’t need to be and his words were always important. His role was essential to inform the audience and so he immediately demanded focus because he didn’t interact with other characters and the scene would usually freeze whenever he spoke therefore the audience had nowhere else to channel their attention because nothing else was happening.
I enjoyed the use of a narrator because he communicated directly with the audience, informed them about what was happening and his knowledge of the situation immediately attracted attention because he was the device used to talk about the goings – on and introduce fate to the musical. He was a neutral character who created a balance between suspense and emotive drama. He slowed the drama down which was a positive factor for it allowed the audience to round up their thoughts without becoming confused with the perplexed affairs.
A climax was expected due to the positioning of policemen amongst the audience holding weapons who were prepared to use them. The audience expected the deaths of the twin due to the premonition caused by two dead bodies on the stage at the start.
The musical showed the twins as children, teenagers and adults. I was impressed by each actor’s ability to portray the same character at different stages in their lives. It was clear that each actor had considered ways to differentiate as they grew older. The transitions from childhood to adolescence to adulthood were definite and caused me to realise the importance of not simply reading a script and interpreting the lines. It established the necessity of considering a character’s physicality as well as hobbies, history etc. irrespective of whether these features are involved in the play. I think that it is important to imagine what a character was like twenty years ago or would be like twenty years on for it maximises an actor’s understanding of a character which means that they can convey a mature rendition of a personality. It gives one more opportunities to enquire about why a character would do a certain action or respond to something in a specific way in a play. Consequently the audience are entertained for the character is layered and the actor earns credibility for exploring the part and projecting a vivid depiction.
The sound effects added to the suspense and tension of ‘Blood Brothers.’ Definitive low – pitched notes played on a synthesiser added to the intense atmosphere when the authoritative narrator spoke.
‘Marilyn Monroe’ was a song sang regularly throughout the show. It was light – hearted and sung by Mrs. … comparing certain events and people to Marilyn Monroe. The lyrics were not repeated but the tune and the context were the same. The repetition of the tune was beneficial and entertaining because the audience were able to familiarise themselves with it. The words to the song were intelligent and relevant to the drama, the pace of the songs corresponded with the mood of the drama and contributed to helping the drama to conjure a rollercoaster of happy as well as sad feelings which were conveyed upon the audience. The songs created, pace, comedy and together along with dance, they helped the audience to remember the play’s content.
The stage settings of ‘Blood Brothers’ would have been ideal to perform a rendition of ‘Street Scene’ upon. Set upon a stoop, the collaboration of houses upon the stage of the Phoenix Theatre where the show was held, would have corresponded with the events of ‘Street Scene.’
The layout of the stage enables actors to access a higher level that is supposed to be the upstairs of the houses. This scheme would have been ideal when Mr. Maurant discovers his wife with the milkman, for he (and the audience) would have been able to witness their intimacy) through one of the windows. The actor playing Mr. Maurant would then have been able to reach the upper level via a backstage route (like characters such as the narrator) and successfully shoot his wife and her lover without the audience believing it to be an anti- climax to such an interesting piece of drama.
Both set in environments that value community spirit, ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Street Scene’ both focus on friendships that cannot proceed. In the case of ‘Blood Brothers,’ Mickey and Eddie struggle to maintain a friendship as both Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. Lyon (moreso) attempt to prevent their sons from seeing one another due to the guilt they feel. In ‘Street Scene’ Rose Maurant and Sam cannot be explicit about their love due to Mr. Maurant’s prejudice about Jews.
Similar to ‘Blood Brothers,’ ‘Street Scene’ deals with themes of love, status, community spirit, and guilt. Both similarly cope with the importance of class and how it affects people’s judgement. Mr. Maurant believes that he is authoritative, stronger than his neighbours and this drives him to be clear about his opinions of his daughter’s Jewish boyfriend.
Likewise Mickey realises that Eddie is different to him and becomes convinced that he cannot compete with his grandeur and riches. This affects him because he refuses to prolong his friendship with Edward, although he is mentally disabled, his judgement of his brother has become overwhelmed by Eddie’s background. In both pieces, the values of people are forgotten in favour of what stereotypes pursue. Mr. Maurant won’t accept Sam because he dislikes Jewish people irrespective of their individual qualities and eventually Mickey cannot accept Edward because he feels different to him.
Mickey’s inability to cope with how different he is to Eddie is influenced by drugs yet again it has an ironic impact. Although he classes himself dissimilar to Eddie, they are similar in more ways than one for they are brothers. The audience realise this irony and become frustrated with both Mrs. Lyon’s and Mrs. Johnston’s inability to tell them the truth and soothe the mistake they made when they separated them at birth. Nevertheless without the silence kept between the mothers, the drama would not have drawn to such a peak that it did by the end of the show and ‘Blood Brothers’ would not have been as successful if there was a happy ending. Although the audience don’t want Mickey and Edward to die, it is necessary that they do in order to simulate emotion and distinguish ‘Blood Brothers’ from other co – incidental drama where all turns well simply to calm the audience’s feelings before leaving the theatre.
I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Blood Brothers.’ I thought it was an excellent collaboration of intense drama and music. I thoroughly enjoy musicals but I often feel that musicals can have a weak storyline because there is more focus upon singing and dance. As much as I enjoy these aspects of theatre, I think that it is difficult to combine powerful drama and song and dance without belittling the dramatic tension. Nevertheless ‘Blood Brothers’ raised issues such as the nature of friendship, loyalty, family values, class, violence, betrayal as well as mental illness and depression yet with the inclusion of singing and dancing, it was still a fantastic piece of work. ‘Blood Brothers’ has encouraged my own goal to achieve similar standards to that cast to be able to emotionally move people.