Blood Brothers is a musical play, and the songs involved, play an important role throughout. As well as keeping the audience entertained the songs gives us character insight, provides extra information, and carries along the storyline. The songs emphasise and highlight key moments during the play, and make the audience aware of their importance. Techniques such as foreshadowing are made clearer, and the music portrays certain moods making characters emotions and thoughts clearer.
An interesting technique Russell has used at the beginning of the play is by using a prologue. This is a very effective way to engage the audience, by giving the audience an insight into the plot for example “of one womb born on the self same day, how one was kept and one given away…” It brings forth questions in the audience’s mind and the answers are revealed as the story unfolds. It frees up the audience to speculate the storyline and how the ending came to be. This intricate plot structure shows how the characters actions have severe consequences throughout the story “An did you never hear how the Jonstones died, never knowing that they shared one name…”
Foreshadowing is fantastic technique that Russell uses successfully in the prologue and throughout the play. Foreshadowing is when events that happening later on in the play are foretold or hinted by earlier events. The prologue makes foreshadowing possible because the end is revealed to the audience and makes them look for possible omens of this during the story. There are many great examples of this throughout the play, especially in the beginning when the children are playing with toy guns. “But you know that if you cross your fingers, and if you count from one to ten, you can get up off the ground again, it doesn’t matter the whole thing's just a game.” The reference to guns and “it’s just a game” is repeated throughout the play, and relates to the twin's death at the end as both of them are shot. At the end of the play it's not just a childish game, and the reality becomes too difficult for the characters to deal with. The quotation implies a long for childish innocence from all the characters, and a cry for help from the tragic ending.
Although the outcome of the Blood Brothers storyline is tragic, Russell adds comedy and humour throughout. When the boys first meet, an example of Russell's humour occurs; “So they took him to the hospital an' put a plate in his head...A plate? A dinner plate?” Russell lightens the mood by injecting humour into a scene full of tension and irony. The comedy in the play makes Blood Brothers a more enjoyable and entertaining piece of drama for the audience to watch. By adding this childlike humour into the play, it shows that Russell can invent realistic and believable characters which make the audience more likely to sympathise with the characters.
As well as having a great understanding of young children, Russell also has an understanding of adolescents as well. “...Linda, I wanna kiss y' an kiss y'...but I don't know how to tell y' because I’ve got pimples an' me feet are too big an' me bum sticks out...” This quotation demonstrates this and creates believable characters in the Blood Brothers play. It is important that Russell makes the characters to be realistic and have normal life experiences, thus the audience is capable of feeling sympathy for the characters and have a greater understanding of the themes and emotions included in the play.
During the play Russell makes reference to a real historic character Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe is often used in the play to represent certain emotions and moods in the play, such as happiness and depression. She is a symbol of beauty, sexiness, luxury, hidden emotions, and tragedy. The contrast created between the Blood Brother's characters and Marilyn Monroe, gives the fictional characters a realistic and convincing edge and makes clearer the emotions and themes present in the story. The reference to a historical figure makes the audience sympathise more with the fictional characters, and makes Blood Brothers a more realistic play for the audience to watch.
Russell “champions the cause of the socially disadvantaged...” is part of the essay statement; I believe that Russell shows a clear distinction between the working and middle class in various ways. This is demonstrated in the character’s use of speech and language, and the conspicuous contrast between the two classes. An example of this is the dialogue Mrs Johnstone uses, “Ey, its weird though, isn’t it. Here’s you can’t have kids an’ me, I can’t stop having them.” This quotation shows Mrs Johnstone’s Liverpool accent and her use of informal words such as “ey” and “an,’” also she uses slang phrases such as “in the club” and “soft get” throughout the play. However, the middle class uses much more formal English and use correct English grammar, evidence of this is shown in Mrs. Lyons dialogue. “We’ll do this properly so that it’s thoroughly convincing, and I’ll need to see you walk, and baby clothes, I’ll have to knit and buy bottles and suffer from piles.” Russell supports neither the middle nor working class but successfully shows the difference between the two, by carefully putting thought in the character’s speeches and demonstrating the different use of language. The author successfully achieves this message across to the audience; therefore he champions the cause of the socially disadvantaged.
There is also a scene in the play where the issue of social class is foremost; when the policeman visits the homes of Edward and Mickey. He treats both families differently. “Either you keep them in order, Missis, or it’ll be the courts for you or worse won’t it?” He treats Mrs. Jhonstone with a little amount of respect and refers to her as Missis, also he threatens to take her to court “or worse”. When the policeman visits Edward’s home he speaks respectfully towards Mr. Lyons and regards him as “Sir”, or “Mr Lyons”. Also he tries to make out that it wasn’t a crime by saying to Mr. Lyons “…It was more of a prank, really, Mr. Lyons…I’d just dock his pocket money if I was you…” Here Russell champions the cause of the socially disadvantaged, and demonstrates this important theme.
Blood Brothers is also relevant in the time in which it was set. The recession and lack of jobs is strongly referenced to especially as Edward and Mickey grow older, and Mickey struggles to find a job while Edward is still happily rich. The reference to real historic events, make the characters more plausible and realistic and relevant songs relating to the recession are demonstrated throughout the play.
In my opinion, Blood Brothers is an entertaining play involving realistic and believable characters. After analysing the statement, I believe that Willy Russell successfully champions the cause of the socially disadvantaged, and shows effectively the issue of social class.
