Critical Evaluation Of Blood Brothers.
Critical Evaluation Of Blood Brothers Title of Play: Blood Brothers Author: Willy Russel Directors: Bob Tompson and Bill Kenwright Theatre: Theatre Royal, Brighton I went to see Blood Brothers at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. The play was directed by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright and written by Willy Russel. The play is set in Liverpool where a mother of seven children is expecting twins. She has trouble coping with the bills and buying her children the things they want. She begins a new job working as a housekeeper for Mrs. Lyons . As she becomes to know the woman she discovers her desire to have children. She decides to give one of her expected twins away upon the promise of being able to see him every day. After a while, she is sacked from her job and threatens to tell everybody about their secret. She is then told if she tells the other twin, they will both die. As the brothers grow older, they seemingly grow apart. Mickey is a worker who loses his job, becomes involved in crime and turns into a pill-popping addict. Eddie, with the Lyons' ample finances, attends university and becomes a town official. The brothers become increasingly unable to relate to each other and eventually fate catches up with them as the narrator keeps repeating that for such a separation at birth, ultimately a price has to be paid. Superstitions are constant in this musical and show the
The role of parenting in Blood Wedding and Miss Julie.
Parents play a big role in the lives of their offspring. Many things are handed down from generation to generation, in many forms. Morals, position in society, ethics and even notoriety can all be passed down from parent to child. These traits are present in Blood Wedding and Miss Julie, where the influence of parents ultimately plays a key role in the downfall of the main characters. Status and position in society are reliant on family succession. Titles are hereditary, meaning that on the one hand, the son of a count will become a count, but on the other, the son of a peasant has no chance whatsoever of moving up in the world. This idea of status as determined by parents is seen mostly in Miss Julie, where she can trace her family line back thousands of years. Jean mentions this when he speaks of Adelskalender, the Swedish equivalent of Burke's Peerage, saying that Miss Julie's earliest ancestor was "a miller who let the king spend the night with his wife during the Danish war."i This portrays the conflict of the classes, as it shows that the only difference between Jean and Miss Julie is a paltry, ancient event of no real significance. Genetically, there is no difference between Miss Julie and Jean. They are both descended from peasants, but Jean's ancestors just didn't have the opportunity to change status that Miss Julie's did. Miss Julie is greatly affected by
An Evaluation of Blood Brothers
An Evaluation of Blood Brothers Blood Brothers is about two twins who are separated at birth. One is sold and one is kept. They then meet later on but do not know they are twins until 'the day they die'. It is told throughout the play, by the interventionist narrator, with songs as soliloquy's, to assist telling the story and explaining the characters thought and feelings. One key theme throughout is superstition. It starts with Mrs Johnstone and her superstitious nature but then develops throughout the narrative as Mrs Lyons then becomes superstitious and things, happenings start to evolve around the superstitious nature. It begins to affect the play, as the characters start to behave differently, Mrs Lyons as she approaches a mental breakdown changes and her change in behaviour is effected by the superstition of having a sold child, and not only a child but a twin, if ever two twins shall meet and know of there brother hood both shall die on that same day. The portrayal of all the characters was extremely good. Especially Mickey. Played by the understudy; Richard Munday. His portrayal of the character I thought was incredible, I knew being a professional actor he would be good and good at playing small children but I was very, very surprised. The way he portrayed his character was (to me) extraordinary. His use of body language was great, the way he moved and walked and
Blood Brothers Evaluation
Tanushri Ms Tully 10a How effectively did "Blood Brothers" explore the differences in socio-economic status in Liverpool in the 1960's? We went to see the musical "Blood Brothers", at the Phoenix Theatre on February 4th 2008. "Blood Brothers" is set in Liverpool in the early eighties. It tells the terrible tale of two twins separated at birth, as a mother of seven and the only person in the house who earns money; she can't afford to keep them. She agrees to give one away to her employer, Mrs Lyons, a rich woman unable to have children of her own. One twin grows up in a middle class household and the other in a working class household. It is by fate that Mickey and Eddie become 'blood brothers', with no clue as to the irony. The play looks at the contrast in the way the two boys are brought up and the issue of social class in Britain in 1960. The main themes of the play are; superstition and socio-economic status. The narrators opening passage tells us what is going to happen in the play. He gives us a chance to make a judgement about the characters we have been told about. It creates tension as we wait for the other characters to be introduced. The narrator tells us of two twins separated at birth, only to brought together and die. He constantly reminds us of their fate with songs as soliloquy. The play was structured well, grabbing the audiences' attention from the
blood brothers evaluation
GCSE Drama Paper 1- Unit 2 Live theatre review The play that we went to see was called "Blood Brothers". The date of the performance was 4th February 2008, at the Phoenix Theatre. The play was about two families. One was a working class family and the other was a middle class family. The mother of the working class family had twins and gave one of them to the other family. The play looked at the contrast in the way the two boys were brought up and the issue of social class in Britain in 1960. The main themes of the play were; superstition and socio-economic status. In the narrators opening passage he tells us what happens in the play. That gives the audience a chance to make judgements on the characters we have been told about and it creates an aspect of tension whilst waiting for the other characters to be introduced. The narrator says that the twins who were separated at birth come to meet and in the end they die. The play was structured well. The opening of the play really grabbed the audience's attention when we saw Eddie and Mickey dead on the floor. It created tension in the audience because we did not know who was dead or how it had happened. The actors and lighting were able to show a big divide in the socio- economic status. When Mrs Johnstone was crying for her sons the audience felt empathy towards her however when the Lyons' came on the stage the actors
A Review of ‘Blood Brothers’
Drama Coursework A Review of `Blood Brothers' I went to see the musical `Blood Brothers' at the North Wales Theatre in Llandudno, on Monday, 23^rd October. A professional company performed it and the directors were Bill Kenwright and Bob Thompson. 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
Blood Brothers
AQA Drama Part 1 assessment: Blood Brothers My practical work in September to December was for my acting option. It was a scripted piece of work based on the play Blood Brothers. There are various themes in Blood Brothers, a clash of class, romance, jealousy, and betrayal. My contribution to the performance was as a seven-year-old child. I played Edward. Edward is a very reserved character. He is well spoken and polite and is very surprised and shocked at many things Mickey (his friend) does. He comes from a wealthy background and so is used to having everything he needs. He enjoys helping other people out. When acting as Edward I needed to have a very good posture. Holding myself well, this showed a contrast between Edwards's upper class and Mickey's lower class. I also needed to speak well, pronouncing my words clearly. This again showed a clear contrast between Mickey and Edward's class. To help me in my work I looked for information on the Internet and books I looked at pictures of young boys in the 1950's, this helped me choose my costume. I also listened to the Blood Brothers sound track, and watched a professional performance of Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre. I also read a play called Blue remembered Hills by Dennis Potter. The most useful material I looked at was the production of Blood Brothers at the Phoenix theatre. This is because it helped me with many
To what extent can storytelling as a ritual be used as a dramatic force to celebrate the experience of an individual?
To what extent can storytelling as a ritual be used as a dramatic force to celebrate the experience of an individual? Since the beginning of time, humans have been telling stories to each other. From the cave man days without language, through to the Greek and Roman empires, through to today, and even as I type, there is probably a story being told to someone. Stories, however first came to being dramatised (or so it is thought) back in the days when we were cave men. At the end of each day groups of people would sit round a fire and relate, to each, their days, by acting them out. In ancient Greece storytellers would tell epic stories about the heroes of the past, and of their Gods and Goddesses. In a way their stories were like a ritual because they were always about gods, or sons of gods, or goddesses and in a way it became ritual to add them in to a story. It also became a ritual in the way that the stories were told, and past down from generation to generation. Even today epic stories such as Homers Odyssey are still being told in theatres and in film, for example the new film called 'Troy'. Today stories are still being told to celebrate life's experiences. At the end of most days we normally end up telling people what we have been up to in that day, and writers are still telling stories which tell people what they have been experiencing and
I have been to see the play Blood Brothers in the Phoenix theatre on the 10th November 2011.
Blood Brothers Evaluation I have been to see the play Blood Brothers in the Phoenix theatre on the 10th November 2011. The play was written by Willy Russell, the genre was musical theatre. The play was about two twins separated at birth and re-united the same day they die. The play opens with the death scene, which was also the end scene. The whole play is a flash back, this is effective because it drew the audience in and gave a level of suspense as you wanted to know what happens to the twins, ‘The story of the Johnston Twins’. The narrator then comes on in verse and tells you what has happened. The lighting is dark and red with the use of a gobo projected onto a gauze. This is effective because you could see the twins were dead so the lighting made the mood feel down and sombre. This meant the director expressed the emotions to fit the scene. The music is low and sombre this is effective as it reflects the atmosphere and mood of the scene. The narrator then invites you in to watch the rest of the play through a flashback, the gauze goes up and the scene changes. The next scene is in contrast to the first as it is more upbeat. Mrs Johnston uses song to narrate her life so far this is effective because links it to the life of Marline Monroe as she is a happy person at the begging of her career. Then slowly through the song her life deteriorates when her husband
Examine the function of knives, flowers, water and blood in the play 'Blood Wedding', by Federico Garcia Lorca.
Commentary Federico Garcia Lorca - Blood Wedding (Translated by Ted Hughes) Essay Topic: Examine the function of knives, flowers, water and blood in the play. Blood Wedding, a play by Federico Garcia Lorca is a tragedy that depicts the conflicts between the wishes of individuals and the laws of society. Throughout the duration of his play Lorca tells of the coming together of two families through the marriage of the "Bride" and the "Bridegroom;" But this coming together never takes place, due to the "Bride's" love for Leonardo. Being a tragedy in the sense that the protagonists Leonardo and the Bride once loved each other but were unable to marry each other. A tragedy of unfulfilled love. Garcia uses symbols effectively in his play to portray not only the tragedy within the play but the general understanding of it, the most apparent of the symbols being knives, flowers, water and blood. Reference to knives is made many a time throughout the duration of the play, and it can be said it symbolizes both death and violence. "The knife, the knife! Damn the knife, damn all knives, damn the devil who created knives." Enter Act 1, and the mothers sheer abhorrence for knives becomes apparent, for they are behind the death of both her husband and her son. "He would be here now, warm and living, the real man he was, if knives had never been invented." He anger and frustration