A comparison between Keith Waterhouse's 'Billy Liar' and Willy Russell's 'Blood Brothers'
A comparison between Keith Waterhouse's 'Billy Liar' and Willy Russell's 'Blood Brothers'. The novel 'Billy Liar' was written in 1959 about Billy Fisher, a working-class 19 year old, who lives with his parents in the town of Stradhoughton (a fictional town) in Yorkshire. His job as a clerk for an undertaker bores him, which is why Billy spends his time living in fantasies and dreams of life in the city as a comedy writer. However, with three current girlfriends, his exaggerated imagination comes at a cost. On the other hand 'Blood Brothers' is a 1983 musical which revolves around twins separated at birth. The story is set in Liverpool, and begins in the late 1950s and ends around the 1980s. Throughout, the story is narrated. 'Billy Liar' is a kitchen sink drama, which deals with the domestic issues of a disillusioned youth and his dysfunctional family. The acting style is realistic and there is a fourth wall, there is also one actor for the role of each character. Whereas, in 'Blood Brothers' actors change their role in front of the audience. For example, the milkman turns into the doctor through the use of a simple prop. The musical starts with a song unlike 'Billy Liar', which starts with an ordinary scene of the family at breakfast. There are many non-realistic techniques used in 'Blood Brothers' such as, used of chorus in synchronisation and freeze frames. It uses the
Gothic Horror Story
Gothic Horror Story There had been three victims now, no-one knew why or how but day after day helpless souls had disappeared and despite the horrific state of their houses and the gruesome mess left behind, there was no firm evidence of why these feeble, defenceless people were being abducted from the tiny village of Ducklington. The first was Bill, the local milkman. He hadn't been into work one morning so some friends went to check on him, only to find an open door, an empty bed and the remains of Bills' rent and torn flesh and splintered bones scattered carelessly around his house. The next victims were the two mad sisters who lived at the end of Baker Street - Lillie and Violet, who had been malevolently attacked along with their dog, Archie. A frightful atmosphere was showering the village. Folk were talking, staring, whispering. The whole village was searched, every nook and cranny, every bed, every room, every dusty cupboard under the stairs. People were questioned and queried, falsely accused. The only place that hadn't been tampered with was the heavily wooded, daunting, isolated forest behind the village. No-one had ventured in there for years. There were myths and tales about the creatures and horrors of the forest, but no-one truly believed them and cast them to the back of their mind. I woke up one sunny Saturday morning, dressed and went to the corner shop
Blood Brothers Performance
Blood Brothers Performance Evaluation of a Live Piece of Drama I went to see "Blood Brothers" at the Phoenix Theatre in London on Thursday 9th June, for the matinee, 2:30, performance. The piece of Drama, in my opinion, was very successful, having thoroughly believed the characters and their roles throughout the performance, and left with a satisfied feeling that I had seen a plausible and realistic piece of true, entertaining drama. This essay will detail the things in the play that have led me to this opinion, as well as things on which I thought could have been improved. Blood Brothers tells the story of two twin boys, separated at birth only to be bought together and dragged apart throughout the play, ending in tragedy when they truly discover who they are. When Mrs. Johnston discovers she's expecting twins, the only thing she can do to keep the family alive is to give one away - to her broody boss Mrs. Lyons. It's only when the boys are firmly pulled apart that Mrs. Johnston truly realises what she's done, and regrets the choices she's made. As the years go by and Mrs. Johnston sees the boys brought together by fate and dragged away by Mrs. Lyons, Micky and Edward, the twins, form a firm friendship, with each other, and Linda, who Micky ends up marrying. But after a spell in prison, Micky is continually depressed, and pushes Linda to find it hard to stay and not play
As I walked into the cold, dark and dingy dungeons, the first thing I heard was, the shrieking cry of a woman
Year 10 English Coursework: Descriptive Writing. As I walked into the cold, dark and dingy dungeons, the first thing I heard was, the shrieking cry of a woman, begging for mercy. Looking round the room the only thing there, except the reinforced oak door, was a small dilapidated table in the corner, lit up by the flickering candle which burned dim, dropping its waxy pearls on the surface of the wood. As I approached the table on top of it I saw a newish piece of parchment, with a large red blob wax that resembled blood. The opposite wall was covered in blood, oozing from the sharp stones. Looking towards the top of the wall I could just make out in the dim light, three pairs of bloody shackles. When I walked through the oak door, I saw where the screaming was coming from. In the middle of the floor was a woman, her head viciously shaven by a guard. He had no compassion, as he grabbed giant chunks of her blood stained hair and began hacking at it with a knife. As he attacked her hair, he also took away chunks of her scalp. After each lock of hair he would dip the razor into what was once clear water, but was now deep red with her blood. I saw two more prisoners, both lying in a ball on the blood stained floor. They both had their hands shackled together as well as their feet. All that they could hear, over each others sobbing, was the shrieking of their fellow prisoner.
Prison Scene (Blood Brothers)
PRACTICAL WORK DRAMA LESSON EDWARD VISITS MICKEY IN PRISON Our task today was to create a scene showing Edward visiting Mickey in prison. Before the short scene commenced both characters were instructed to improvise a monologue at the beginning to show the contrasting situations of life between the twin brothers and also the contrast in their spirit. The whole scenario clearly communicated this; Mickey being in prison and depressed, Edward's enthusiasm and excitement to tell Mickey the news about his new social life at university. PLOT and TECHNIQUES used The genre of our piece was "serious drama" because it featured realistic elements. The main effect we used was the silence. This provided a tense atmosphere and hooked the audiences attention. Before Edward enters the prison, a split scene is used as the monologues are individually acted out. Edward jumps out of his seat in the waiting room with enthusiasm as visitors are escorted to the visiting room. Mickey appears with a black eye and eye contact with the floor. His character maintains a motionless facial expression as if he is completely numb. Edward greets him with open arms and a warm smile and Mickey remains numb, not even acknowledging Edwards's presence. Edward begins to spark up a conversation and tells him about university, his new group of friends, his love life and studies as Mickey still remains mute.
Drama Development coursework
Drama Coursework- Development In the 1980's there was a great recession in which thousands and thousands lost there jobs, in the 1980's the interest rate peeked at nearly 20%, causing Unemployment and everyone struggling for money. Liverpool, the setting of Blood Brothers was hit very badly with more than half the population unemployed, with masses moving out everyday to find jobs elsewhere. It is relevant for audiences watching Blood Brothers today because Britain may again be slipping into an economic rut, thought it will not nearly be as bad as the 1980's. In class we have one lots of practical work about the play and worked a lot on characterisation, and thought through how we would play particular characters to make them as effective as possible, for example, in our class one group did a very good interpretation of the narrator, they showed him as a very shadowy character that controlled most of what happened in the play, like, he gave the gun to Mickey, when he was going to go kill Eddie, which gave of the impression that the narrator was bending the characters to do what he said, I liked this and found it very effective because I found the narrator a scary and sinister character and I thought the way that he controlled the play was almost like a creepy puppet show. My group showed the narrator as quite a sad character, as if she was looking down on the play with a
Blood Brothers Evaluation. After we watched Blood Brothers, we acted out certain scenes from the script and attempted to use various techniques to portray the story in many different ways.
GCSE Drama - 5DRO2 Unit 2 Documentary Response By Luke Warner Over the past term, me and my fellow classmates have studied the play 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell. The hit West-End show follows the story of two twins, separated at birth and brought up in two very different social backgrounds; one growing up in a rich family, while the other remains with his real mother in a poor family, living in the slums of Liverpool. The play explores many themes, ranging from the problems of society, to the possibility of superstition playing a massive part on life. After we watched 'Blood Brothers', we acted out certain scenes from the script and attempted to use various techniques to portray the story in many different ways. 'Blood Brothers' tells the tale of Mickey and Eddie, two twins separated at birth due to a number of reasons. The first act introduces the story, and examines the events leading up to the birth. It also witnesses their first meetings as children. This part of the play is very comedic, however the frequent use of the narrator (who plays a paramount role throughout the play) quickly shifts what appears to be a funny scene into a dark and eerie one. The second act sees the reunion of the brothers, now hit with puberty, and an increasing sense of competition. Although initially positive, the story takes a turn for the worse when Mickey is badly affected by the
A Review of 'Blood Brothers'.
A Review of 'Blood Brothers' I went to see the musical 'Blood Brothers' at the North Wales Theatre in Llandudno, on Monday, 23rd October. The playwright Willy Russell wrote 'Blood Brothers'. I thought the show excellent and it definitely fulfilled the high expectations I had of it. The play was essentially a social comedy, but it was partially a tragedy also, both the comedy and tragedy themes kept the audience on the edge of their seats. The production was credible and realistic as people were moved to tears by the end of the performance and the whole house gave a standing ovation. The beginning of the show was extremely effective; it showed the two 'Blood Brothers' Mickey and Eddie, lying dead, side by side and equal at last. The stillness created here, by the lack of music was very powerful. The twins were then solemnly carried off stage. The silence and red lighting created a surreal effect. This image was only broken when a gauze screen (that we previously did not realise was there) was lifted and the narrator interrupted the silence with his opening lines. The actor's interpretation of the narrator was exceptional. The narrator represented many themes; as fate, fear, the devil, superstition, God, a messenger and was a constant embodiment of the past. The narrator was ever present on stage; his haunting, shadowy presence was a reminder, throughout the play, of the
.......We Band of Brothers
Ray Crumpler 1/14/05 0:30 .......We Band of Brothers Directors Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg produce a Global Award winning mini-series, Band of Brothers, based on the book written by historian Stephen Ambrose. Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers inspires Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg to make this moving story into an HBO mini-series. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg retell the remarkable story of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in hopes the viewer will appreciate the sacrifice of the men who fought in World War II. Band of Brothers is a 10 part HBO mini series telling the real life accounts of the soldiers of "Easy Company" 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. As the story develops, their acts of unparalleled selflessness are a continual reference to its title: Band of Brothers. This film re-enacts the tribulations of the men of Easy Company from the first day of basic training, to the invasion of Germany, until the end of World War II. The men of Easy Company undergo some of the toughest fighting of WW II to include the infamous "Battle of the Bulge." Thus, developing a story told from the battle field seen through the eyes of the soldiers. The series starts out with the men of Easy Company learning to deal with different approaches to leadership. They begin their training at Camp Toccoa in Georgia under the command of Lieutenant Herbert Sobel, played
Part 1 Assessment on Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
Part 1 Assessment on Blood Brothers by Willy Russell We have recently been looking at and acting out certain scenes from a play called Blood Brothers by Willy Russell. It was written in 1981 and set in Liverpool. Because of this, the costumes of the characters were quite old fashioned and the set appeared quite dated when we went to the theatre to see the play. Blood Brothers is about two twins that were separated at birth into two very different families. One child was raised in an upper class family as an only child; the other was brought up with his true mother in a poor family with many brothers and sisters. As the play progresses the two twins accidentally become friends - not knowing that they are in fact brothers. As the dramatic irony continues so does the play which builds up into an impressive climax finishing in an unexpected twist. The play is very quick paced and tends to skip years at a time to keep the audience engaged in what is happening on stage. It has a very clever, well thought out style and makes sure the audience connects with the characters on stage, feeling their emotions' yet still enjoying the humour. During the rehearsal process I have adapted and developed the character of Edward Lyons. Within our separate groups we acted out selected scenes and developed them to make an effective piece which hopefully impressed the class as the audience. As a