GCSE Drama 1699 Paper 1, Unit 2- Portfolio
Response Task
Throughout our coursework we explored the play ‘Blood Brothers’ by Willy Russell. In order to do this, we used a selection of various explorative strategies to further develop our understanding and knowledge of the play.
Initially, we used the explorative strategy ‘Still Image’ in order to explore how the characters Eddie, Mickey and Linda develop throughout the play as a reflection of their ages and what events in the play affect them. ‘Still Image’ is when characters are still, showing emotions and possibly depicting an image from a scene. It’s useful in drama as you can focus on a particular section and explore what themes and character aspects are portrayed. We used ‘Still Image’ whilst creating our own compilation of still images to represent how these three main characters have grown up and changed in three main stages of the play: When they were children, teenagers and adults respectively. To explore this, we created a series of three still images that featured Eddie, Mickey and Linda using different postures, voice, levels and proxemics to explore their ages, character emotions and the relationship between the characters at that point. In the first image, we used the elements of drama aforementioned to connote that the characters were children. We were all close together with Eddie slightly further away which showed they had a strong friendship at that stage. This use of proxemics during the strategy of ‘still image’ helped us to understand that they were all close friends when they were children. Also, Dan (whom played Mickey) had somewhat higher levels than us as we thought he came across as the leader figure of their group. As a result, this helped us understand characters and their relationships in greater detail. As well as this, our postures were exaggerated/ over-the-top and we incorporated the sound of laughter to connote our age. This exploration allowed us to portray our characters more skilfully. In the second image, we used the same elements to explore the contrast in age and character. We were somewhat further apart with Linda slightly closer to Mickey. Our use of proxemics showed us that their friendship was not as close as before, and Mickey and Linda’s relationship had developed. Our postures were fairly slouched and casual with the exception of Eddie whom had a more formal stature. This increased our ability to play the characters and represent their ages effectively. In the third we used the elements aforesaid to denote an even larger contrast to the first image. Our levels were low; especially Dan’s who crouched, to connote the low emotions at that stage. Eddie and Linda stood closer together away from Mickey suggesting via proxemics that their relationship had got considerably closer. This explorative strategy really helped me to understand the way in which my character developed throughout the play, how the themes surrounding these characters changed and how the play was structured. As a result, we were able to perform with these characters and represent their ages in greater detail, hence this strategy proved very useful to us.
