Stephan Plalfreman who was Mickey was also another good actor, he had a vital role in the play and I think he did well. During the scenes in which he was playing the seven-year-old Mickey, he added comedy and made it funny which was contrasting to the tense scenes between Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons before it. This stopped the play from becoming boring and kept it interesting. Stephan did well to show that he was a seven year old, acting childish and funny. However in other scenes, like the pills scene after he got out of prison or the ending scene before he shoots Edward, he acted older and depressed. He did well to show how Mickey changed over the years, which meant that he had a good understanding of his character. When he found out about Edward and Linda he showed his anger as he rushed to get the gun and went frantically running around to find Edward. The lights in this part turned dark red to show the anger and frustration the Mickey felt at this point, it also added to the mood and effect of the scene.
Niki Stevens who was playing Mrs Johnston made good use of the set and used her accent to show who she was and her social position in the play. Niki in the scene where Mrs Lyons asks for a baby could have used more expressions and showed the audience she was not sure weather to give Mrs Lyons a baby before just agreeing. However in other scenes, like the last scene which was a sad and emotional she showed the audience how hurt and shocked Mrs Johnston felt as she just saw he two sons die. She made the audience felt sorry for her and could understand how she must have felt.
Edward, who was played by Richard Raynard, was another key character in the play, jus like Stephan who played Mickey; he also added comedy to his performance when he was playing the seven-year-old Edward. With him acting very posh and looking smart and clean compared to the scruffy looking Mickey made the scene funny. Although he did well in this scene, in others when he was acting older he did not do as good. In the final scene when Mickey had a gun pointing toward him, I thought that he did not act shocked or surprised. I thought he did not do much in that scene and did not get into his character as much.
Another performance that I thought was poor was Louise Davidston’s, who was playing Mrs Lyons. This is because I don’t think that she thought about her character, the scene in witch she asked for a baby is meant to be one of the main, powerful scenes but I thought her acting lacked that impact on the stage. But, I thought she was very good at showing the was rich and arrogant, the way she spoke, the accent that she used and how she treated Mrs Johnston made her character more believable. When she found out about the friendship between Mickey and Edward and started going crazy at telling her husband Mrs Lyons (who was played by Stephan Pallister) that she wanted to move house and getaway to the countryside her acting was good. She showed the mental and slight scary side to her characters personality.
I thought that the use of costume could have been better especially during the scenes between Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons; this is because I thought they could have made it more obvious who was who in the scene. However, throughout the scene where Edward and Mickey meet for the first time the use of costume was good. Mickey was looking scruffy with ripped, old dirty clothes while Edward looked smart and neat. This made it easy for the audience to identify the two characters and showed the difference between what the middle class and the working class wear. That was important since class is an important theme in the play.
The lighting constantly changed during the play, it was important as it enhances the performance by adding atmosphere, effect to suit the mood intended in that particular scene. Dark, tense scenes used dark coloured lights, for example the scene where Mrs Lyons finds out about Mickey and Edward being friends and she becomes crazy acts angry and scary the lights turn dark red to show the anger. In other happier scene like when the children are playing games the lights are bring with light colours.
The set also added to the overall effect of the performance, it showed the area in which Mrs Johnston and her family lived was the poor, working class side. The houses on that side were old with broken dirty bits while on the other side where the rich such as Mrs Lyons lived was cleaner and looked nicer. At the back there was an old broken bridge and behind it in the background was dark which added a good effect. In act two when both families moved to the countryside, the set was now different. The houses all looked new and clean when the background was light and green like grass to show they have moved to the countryside.
The theatre style was a proscenium arch; I thought that this style worked well with the play because the audience was one side rather then having them from various different sides. This meant that everyone in the audience could see and no one missed anything. The entrances on and off the stage were from the sides and it worked well as it tied in with the set. On the left was the Johnston’s house and other old houses, she doors served as entrances and exits. There was also an old looking alleyway, which was another entrance/exit, as it was a working class area you would expect old alleyways so it worked well with the theme of class.
The climax of the play was the last scene. I enjoyed how they made it unexpected when the police come through the side doors next to the audience, that made the scene more interesting and exciting. The acting between Mickey, Edward and Mrs Johnston captured the emotion of this scene and made it entertaining. The gunshots were fired so quickly and were sudden, which added to the dramatic effect of this scene. After the shooting the lights went dark as the two boys fell on the floor, leaving Mrs Johnston in between them looking in shock and all the other characters standing in the background. This was a very sad and emotional scene and showed to tragedy of the play.
Overall, I thought the play was entreating, the theme stayed constant throughout the whole play and it was clear that the issue over class was what they were trying to deal with. The characters remained believable and in some scenes the acting was very good. The lighting continuously changing and the set enhanced the general mood and atmosphere of the play. The costumes at times could have been better but they suited the character and were appropriate for the scenes. The play was amazingly organised, the set made it feel more real and the acting brought it to life. I thought it was a great play and I really enjoyed it.