Blood Brothers, Review Of Play. A*
Blood Brothers, the Society of West End Theatres has awarded a play written by Willy Russell and directed by Bob Thomson 'The greatest musical of the decade.' After seeing Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre, I must agree that it is one of the most streamlined performances I have seen in the past. The play Blood Brothers is set in Liverpool, which interestingly was also the birthplace of the writer Willy Russell who was born just outside Liverpool. In this essay, I will be writing about the effect of and use of dramatic tension in the play. I will also be reviewing the plays general strengths and weaknesses. I will attempt to streamline the review with a degree of professionalism and fairness. The play written by Willy Russell is set In Liverpool and revolves around Eddie and Mickey (Johnston) as they become separated by the actions of Mrs Lyons who bribes the real mother Mrs Johnston to hand over one of her twins for money and for beneficial reasons, claiming that she cannot support all her many children on her current income. She also proposes that the child would have a better life with her and her husband. The reminder of the play Blood Brothers shows the differences in lifestyle the two boys live, almost like the difference of Black and White. As the play goes on this opposite relationship is changed and the similarities of the two are made clearer. Blood Brothers
Babies in china with love and conflict related to blood brothers.
Babies in china with love and conflict related to blood brothers My first performance in drama was about adoption in china. As there is a law in china since the 1970's that only one pair of parents can have only one child, our story consists of a teenage girl having twins so she needs to give one up for adoption and there is a English woman who is willing to adopt there second child. But there are complications, as the mother of the twins will not admit to who the father is. In play Blood brothers there is a woman who is allowed to have more than one child as she lives in England but she has too many children and cant afford any more and she is pregnant with twins. Both stories are along the same line both have love and conflict involved with a tragic end. The love in both storeys in shown in different ways for example, friendship love and blood bothers and love for your child in my performance. My piece was set in the 1980's. The majority of the scenes were located in china so the political tension was very sensitive towards this issue forcing bigger impact in the play also giving it a more realistic out look as it deals with real views and problems in society. The fact that a law was placed in the country choosing for you how many children you have are striped of your independent family rights and the government is ruling your life. Also blackmail you can have great
"Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat" was the musical that put Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice on the map.
"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" was the musical that put Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice on the map. Its humble beginnings as a simple pop cantata with a Biblical theme in a school hall in March 1968 were all part of its charm and freshness. The whole serendipity of how Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice got together informs the bounciness of the early work they produced. Webber had written music from the age of six or seven. His father was a composer, organist, and teacher at one of the leading London colleges, and his mother taught piano to young children. But in a Webber biography he talks of a life changing experience when he was asked to play the violin in a school concert: He said, 'I'm not going to do that, I'm going to play six songs on the piano, and I'm going to dedicate each one of them to masters in the school,' which he did from the stage. Apparently the reaction of the other kids led him to believe that there was something very different the pieces ... he was about nine or ten, and he'd written all the songs himself." Throughout his teenage years at Westminster School, he composed songs for student revues and indulged his enthusiasm for musical theatre in the company of his Aunt a former actress who took him on outings to the West End. He sent songs off to publishers and record producers in London, and through this network, his name was passed
"Blood" by Janice Galloway
"Blood" by Janice Galloway Isolation is a major theme that is explored in many novels and short stories. "Blood" by Janice Galloway cleverly emphasises a single girls isolation through a number of techniques such as characterisation, structure, imagery and setting. Through out the story we have a real insight to the girls deepest feelings and thoughts. Immediately the reader is drawn the title of the short story "Blood", this word carries with it a number of negative connotations and a number of positive ones. When we look to the associations of blood we think of pain, violence and periods. Periods are often look upon as being disgusting and makes women seem impure. Nevertheless there is a number of positive connotations to the title, when we think of blood we are immediately drawn to the colour of red symbolising love and passion and also the idea of life and death. Unfortunately the negatives out weigh the positives. The title helps aid the idea of isolation due to the fact that women are being isolated in society, and being stereotyped as they are often seen as impure. Characterisation is used by the writer to employ the theme of isolation and to help reveal what the girls thoughts and feelings are. At the beginning of the story the girl is getting a tooth taken out at the dentist. Janice Galloway depicts the dentists as being brutal towards the girl: "he put his knee
"Examine the function of knives, flowers, water and blood in the play" - The novel "Blood Wedding" by Federico Garcia Lorca.
Sam Bateman 11 W 1 "Examine the function of knives, flowers, water and blood in the play" The novel "Blood Wedding" by Federico Garcia Lorca makes use of imagery to a large extent, but none more so than the images of knives, flowers, water and blood. Whilst at the start of the play the Mother is completely obsessed with knives, the wedding is almost centered around flowers, water symbolizes life and cleanliness and blood for the family ties and the life force of the people. Knives. The age old symbol of death. Lorca uses this imagery to great extent and the knife in this play symbolizes death, hatred and murder. At first, we are introduced to the knife through the mother, and her bitter ramblings "The knife, the knife! Damn the knife, damn all knives, damn the devil who created knives."1 This is because her husband and second son where murdered by the Felix family wielding knives. The mother is dumbfounded at how such a seemingly small and unobtrusive thing can kill a man as regal and powerful as her husband "How is it that something as small as a pistol or a knife can do away with a man who is like a bull?" It becomes clear later in the play that the world of Lorca is less concerned with people and their will to use knives and more with the knife itself, almost as if the knife wields the person, and this is displayed by the beggar woman "Shine on the waistcoat, undo the
A Specialist Study of the character of "Lyra" and how she develops in the novel "Northern Lights" by Philip Pullman.
A Specialist Study of the character of "Lyra" and how she develops in the novel "Northern Lights" by Philip Pullman. Colin Campbell. I have recently enjoyed studying a novel by Philip Pullman entitled "Northern Lights". I was particularly interested in the characterisation of the main character, Lyra, and how she develops throughout the course of the novel. I found her at first to be naive and headstrong, but as her character develops she learns more about how the world works. There is one thing in her, which I feel does not develop. This is her courage. I feel that she is consistently courageous to the extent of the plot. When the reader is first introduced to Lyra, her background story is told. "She (Lyra) was proud of her College's eminence, and liked to boast of it to the various ragamuffins she played with by the Canal or the Claybeds." Jordan College adopted Lyra, when she was very young, as her mother and father had died. She likes to think of it as "her college" and is very proud of it. However, she is not educated at the college and therefore has a lot of spare time, which she uses to play with streetchildren. This shows her character to be of a young, naïve and mischievous nature. "In many ways Lyra was a barbarian. What she liked best was clambering over the College roofs with Roger, the kitchen boy, who was her particular friend." This backs up previous
Blood Brothers
Blood Brothers Evaluation Title: Blood Brothers presented by Bill Kenwright Productions Venue: His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen Date: 14/3/07 ) This play was about twins that were separated at birth. One child lives in poverty and the other lives with a rich family. The story is set around the themes of unemployment, crime and superstition. 2) The structure of the play was a play with elements of musical theatre. 3) The structural devices used in the play were tableaux, flashbacks, flashforwards and a narrator. The play was a nonlinear play as it went from ending to beginning then middle and back to the end. 4) There was a cast of 14 actors and actress's. 6 of them stayed in the roles all the through and the rest had multi-roles. 5) The play was very imaginatively set out. The used the space well. The set used balconies and multiple backgrounds. It was presented in an end on layout. The staged was a raked stage with means it tilts up slightly given more levels. 6) The actors were very good they were able to change there character when needed e.g. when the age of there character changed or when there character was needed to show emotion. 7) There were a lot of different ways they used to create suspense. They used music, sound effects, lighting, props and costume. 8) The set was a street witch changed when they moved from the city to country. The background also
Blood Brothers
Show Your Understanding and appreciation of the ways in which the elements of drama can be used in realizing a written performance. "Compare and contrast two performances you have been to see. Which was the more successful in your opinion and why?" I am going to compare the two performances of Blood Brothers I have seen which were in London "Phoenix Theatre" and "Bristol Hippodrome". In London I noticed all the characters had very strong Liverpudlian accents. They managed to keep them consistent throughout the play, even when their characters were growing up, and singing. However in Bristol some of the actors seemed to struggle with the Liverpool dialect. Linda was one of the only characters that managed to keep her accent throughout the play, and her accent was very believable. As part of Alienation which was developed by Bertolt, Brecht, it meant there was no scene changes, characters put costumes on in full view of the audience and the songs play a big part in this play. The performance in London had a live orchestra in full view so the audience could clearly see them beside the stage; this took you away from the action and stopped you believing it was so real. Also from the top window of the Johnston's house instead of a window there was a wire mesh and behind of which was the lighting equipment and technician. The use of these devices meant that the realism of
Blood Brothers
BLOOD BROTHERS This term we have been working on the text of Blood Brothers by Willy Russell. The main themes in 'Blood Brothers' are childhood, growing up, class, motherhood and death. I have really enjoyed working on this topic because I like the story line. I liked the way the impression of the story was made. There are some sorrowful scenes in the play. But then there are joyful scenes. In one lesson we worked on the Marilyn Monroe song. The song is called 'Marilyn Monroe'. It is about a woman who goes to a nightclub and a man comes up to her and starts to chat with her. He asked her to dance and she says yes. Then they get married and have a child called Darren Wayne. The next time she wanted to go to the nightclub her husband said to her ' I'm not going with you, you are too fat'. So he went to the nightclub without her and she is left with her kids all the six of them. While the husband is at the nightclub he finds another woman and starts to dance with her, then he comes home with the girl he just met and walks out on his wife with his new girlfriend and then the wife is left with the kids. In this scene I played the character of the husband. At one point in the scene my character felt that he didn't care about his kids. I tried showing this through my body language by just smiling at my new girlfriend and not say goodbye, and waving my arms about
Blood Brothers.
Theatre Visit- Blood Brothers. We visited a London Theatre, 'The Phoenix Theatre' on the 13th March 2003 and saw 'Blood Brothers'. The play was about a single parent who had many children, and then became pregnant again with twins. Her rich employer wanted children but could not have any herself; she asked if she could have one of the babies in secret and tell people the baby was her own. Reluctantly, the pregnant mother agrees to give up one of her babies as she could not afford the unborn child, and also under the conditions that she could see the child grow up everyday when she came to her work to clean the home. As the children grow up, one remains poor in his family, and the other raised by a much higher class family is raised in a posh environment with good manners and behaviour- the other the complete opposite. When they become around 7 years old they cross each other in the neighbourhood, and not knowing that they are true brothers, they become close friends. A friendship which becomes so close, they decide to perform the classic ritual of cutting their hands, exchanging blood and becoming 'Blood Brothers'. The two boys grow up as best friends, while only the mothers know the truth. Eventually the richer mother decides to move away so her son has no contact with his birth mother and discovers the truth. Soon after the poorer mother is given a new home by the