I saw Blood Brothers in London in July 2003.
Blood Brothers I saw Blood Brothers in London in July 2003. The stage production is wholly based on the book written by Willy Russell, a Liverpuddlian author, in 1983. In the story twin boys are separated at birth - fate conspires to bring them together in tragic circumstances. There are many issues developed in Blood Brothers. The first is the effect of class upon life's outcomes. The twins start out with identical opportunities but after separation they are forced into two different classes with disastrous results. A second theme describes how obsessional motherly love can lead to the destruction of the offspring. The story compares the lives of two women separated by extreme class differences. Superstitions have governed the mothers' lives to the extent that the prophecy of death becomes reality. The set build was of very high quality - the two parallel rows of houses were built in three dimensions and were extremely realistic. At the onset of the show the stage is obscured by a gauze curtain, ingeniously lit using scarlet lighting with a swirling effect. This gives the impression of going back in time and also alludes to the theme of blood, as in Blood Brothers. On stage right is a row of dilapidated council houses and opposite is a row of London brick houses. When an indoor scene is being played then a drop-down small backdrop descends and stage crew carry on the
Choose a production you have seen during your course that made a strong emotional impact on the audience (Blood Brothers)
Drama-Performance Essays Q2. Choose a production you have seen during your course that made a strong emotional impact on the audience. A production I went to see recently was Blood Brothers, performed at the Alhambra theatre. Overall, this was an excellent play, and fully enjoyed by all. The whole play was excellently done, and I thought that the whole of the story made an emotional impact on the audience. The story begins with a woman, Mrs Johnstone, who falls pregnant with twins. She cannot afford to keep them both, so she decides to give one away to Mrs. Lyons, the person she works for, and who cannot have children herself. She gives the child away and he grows up in a middle class environment. He is called Eddie. The son she keeps is called Mickey, and he grows up in a working class environment. Mrs. Lyons sacks Mrs. Johnstone, and they agree never to tell their sons the truth. But, as the sons grow up they become friends, and even blood brothers. This is quite ironic, because they are actually real brothers. They keep in contact; Mickey gets married, but is very unhappy. Eddie loves Mickey's' wife, Linda, so Mickey plans to kill Eddie. It all ends with a big finale, where both brothers end up dead. Because we are shown the final scene at the beginning, we know that as the play goes along it is building up to a big and sad ending, so we are left wondering all of the
Friendship in Harry Potter
Ruiz, Juan R. ENC1101 Dr. K. Claus 1-23-04 Essay #6 Friendship in Harry Potter Friendship is an in-depth relationship mixing trust, loyalty and support. It is the combination of understanding, empathy and intimacy. But, no one can form a friendship until he/she realizes that the basis of being friends is meeting the needs of the other person. One must be a friend in order to have one (Mugglenet). Friendship and its main components: loyalty-trust, support, and similar values are very well emphasized in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. Trust and loyalty go hand-in-hand for friends. Friends are trusted with secrets, both large and small, because good friends never break a confidence. Good friends are forever loyal. This is the case of Hagrid with Professor Dumbledore. Hagrid is forever loyal to Dumbledore despite of their differences because the professor has trusted Hagrid with important undertakings. An important vote of trust and responsibility that friends deserve in order to feel appreciated. A similar example of loyalty is portrait when Harry stood up for his new friend Ron Weasley when Draco Malfoy insulted Ron's family; Harry rejected to shake Malfoy's hand and added: "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks" (Rowling 109). It is hard to be a good friend as well as to find one. There are many obstacles and situations that may interfere
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod.
In No Great Mischief, Alistair MacLeod proves to the reader that it is impossible to talk about the Scottish-Canadian heritage without mentioning tradition, family and loyalty. MacLeod wrote this book about loyalty to family tradition. It is common to talk about these three things when one describes his family or his past in general, but in this book, MacLeod has included every single intricate detail about each one of the three aspects. Family plays the biggest role in this novel. Anything that the characters say or do usually has to do with family. The first time Alexander MacDonald, the narrator of the story, mentions family it is not his own. It is one of the immigrant families picking berries along the road that he is driving on (MacLeod 1). This point takes him directly into a slight mention of his own family: the grandmother (3). Since there is no main character in the book, it is thought to be the narrator. However, I wish to disagree with this fact and say that the real main character in this book is Alexander's brother, Calum, who lives in Toronto. The first time Calum is introduced, one of the first things to come out of his mouth is of family: "I have been thinking the last few days of Calum Ruadh," (11). We find out that Alexander has a close relationship with his brother and he drives to Toronto to visit him every weekend. This has become almost a tradition
Family seperation - Hot seating and role play - I have chosen to do a script interviewing Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons.
I have chosen to do a script interviewing Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons. Interviewer: "Mrs Johnstone how did it feel giving up one of your sons?" Mrs Johnstone: "It felt terrible, and the guilt still hunts me but I did what I thought was right, at least one of my sons would have a successful life." Interviewer: "Mrs Lyons how does it feel having to lie to your husband that Edward isn't really your son" Mrs Lyons: "I knew my husband wouldn't agree but this is what I wanted. We brought up Edward as our own and weather or not our blood flows through him Edward is part of the Lyons family." Interviewer: "Mrs Lyons how did you feel knowing you where taking away someone's child and after not letting the true mother see her child" Mrs Lyons: "I didn't take her son away we both agreed on the matter and she had the power to say no in which she did not consider. I had to sack her not for my benefit but for the Childs." Interviewer: "Mrs Johnstone do you agree or disagree that if you hadn't of given up one of your sons their deaths would not have occurred" Mrs Johnstone: "that's hard to say that's a yes and no answer, on earth we are all meant to die and their time was just simply up it was inevitable, but yet the way they died wouldn't have happened if they knew they where brothers." Evaluation: This exercise helped me greatly to understand about family separation. By
At The Beginning Of The Play The Narrator describes Mrs Johnstone As The Mother So Cruel. What Do You Think Of Mrs Johmstone?
At The Beginning Of The Play The Narrator describes Mrs Johnstone As The Mother So Cruel. What Do You Think Of Mrs Johmstone? The play has many themes. It shows the irony of the class system where the twins, born from the same mother have completely different lives. Mickey who stays with his real mother grows up seeing "chicken and chips" and "corned beef" as treats, where as Edward has everything he wants such as "dictionaries" a big house and lots of money. Mrs Johnstone I think feels guilty about this, which is one of the reasons that she doesn't like seeing Edward. Mrs Johnstone at the beginning of the book is described as "the mother so cruel." I don't think this is fair as she is a mother of seven already. Another two would be too much, so giving up one of her babies is the right thing to do. The idea to give up Edward isn't even Mrs Johnstones. It was mrs Lyons that put the idea into Mrs Johnstones head in the first place "give one of them to me" so mrs Johnstone just went along with her when she realised what a wonderful life the baby would have with Mrs Lyons. "he wopuldn't have to worry about where his next meal was coming from" This line is shoiwing how Mrs Johnstone is trying to convince herself that Edward would have a better life with the Lyons family. After she gets really excited about her baby growing up in a rich household she realises it would be morally
And do we blame Superstition for what we come to pass? Or could it be what we, the English, have come to know as class?
And do we blame Superstition for what we come to pass? Or could it be what we, the English, have come to know as class? The death of Edward and Mickey was very sudden and unpredictable but was it to do with superstition or class division? Mrs Lyons convinced Mrs Johnstone that if the twins were to ever find out they were twins, they would immediately die. The strange thing is, when they did find out they were brothers, they were both dead in 90 seconds. Although Mrs Lyons only said that tall story to Mrs. Johnstone as threat and a precaution, it did actually happen. So, was their gruesome deaths due to superstition or class? When Mickey shot Edward, was it on purpose or did it actually go off on it's own accord? Did Mickey know the gun was loaded from the previous robbery for which he got sent to prison? Maybe Mickey purposefully shot Edward because he knows that if Mrs. Lyons chose him instead of Edward, he would have the easy life and Edward would be at the bottom of the barrel like Mickey. But on the other hand, would Mickey shoot his brother and long-time friend? Maybe Mickey was under the influence of the pills when he ran to nis mother's home and took the gun from under the floorboards and blew Edward to pieces. All this we have to take into consideration. Mrs Johnstone said to Mrs Lyons that she only had to shake hands with a man and she was pregnant whereas Mrs
All are Punished
All are Punished "We went dancing,'" sang a young woman from Liverpool as she danced the night away with the love of her life. Victoria lived in a council house on a run down estate, just up the road from an affluent estate. There were plenty of litterbins on the side of the road but no rubbish in them, it was all around the place as thought it had never been cleaned. The paint was peeling off the front doors, there were cracks on the walls and lots of windows were boarded up. The estate was a mess. Victoria's new man had just moved in with her. He had seduced her by telling her she looked like Marilyn Munroe. They went dancing every night; they were young and foolish. To them, life was a ball. They were young, in love and carefree enough to let Victoria get pregnant, so they got married and Victoria had her first child, Emily. They became even poorer than they already were. Victoria became pregnant again and had another baby boy, named Tod. She decided that she was destined to have many babies. About a month after the sixth baby was born, her husband left her for a younger woman without a multitude of babies. Victoria struggled on in her hard life, not paying for anything, just signing to pay for things to come from the mail-order catalogue and sighing as the bailiffs came to remove the stuff. She did manage to get herself a job as a cleaner in a rich,
'Blood brothers' - Study the contrasts that Willy Russell sets up in the musical and write about different life styles and life chances that Eddie and Mickey have.
"Blood Brothers' is a play that could be played like a tennis match with every scene showing first the working class situation and then the middle class side of it. The only way I allowed myself to do that was in the scene,if I only did it once, it would be very effective" Willy Russell study the contrasts that Willy Russell sets up in the musical and write about different life styles and life chances that Eddie and Mickey have. The play 'Blood Brothers' was written by Willy Russell who really show the contrast between class in this play. The main difference in this play is class because right from the start to the end the class effects the two boys in every way. This class difference is shown by the way that their parents treat them, the contrast in the language that they use, where and how they live, compare their education, compare the way police treat them, compare the work that they do, and also contrasts in the power they have. All of these are main parts of the play the effect of class is contrasting all through their lives, like Eddie and Mickey have been separated at birth, one to a wealthy family and one has gone to a working class struggling family. Eddie has gone to the wealthy family and Mickey has gone to the working class family. Willy shows the first major part this is how their parents treat them by the way they speak to them. Like for example Mickey's
Describe in detail the techniques, which Willy Russell uses in ‘Blood Brothers’ to add depth and interest to his play and entertain his audience.
Task: Describe in detail the techniques, which Willy Russell uses in 'Blood Brothers' to add depth and interest to his play and entertain his audience. Target: Write a formal, literacy essay, using individually chosen quotations. Blood Brothers Blood Brothers is about a pair of twins who are born to a mother who can't afford to keep them. Then there is Mrs. Lyons who can not have any children for reasons unknown. Mrs. Johnstone (the mother of the twins) gets a job cleaning Mrs. Lyons house. As the days of cleaning wear on Mrs. Johnstone's predicament becomes apparent to Mrs. Lyons and she offers to take one of the babies's away from her. Mrs. Johnstone agrees and gives Mrs. Lyons one of the babies. Mickey (Mrs. Johnstone's son) and Edward (Mrs. Lyons son) grow up and at the age of seven they become quite good friends. They continued being good friends until the age of 18 when Edward want off to university and when he came back Mickey had lost his job and shortly after went to jail. The fact that Edward had so much and Mickey had so little really got to him and he went in to town to shoot Edward. Just as Mickey decides that he can't shoot Edward. Mrs. Johnstone comes in and tells them that they are brothers. This pushes Mickey over the edge and he shoots Edward and then gets shot by the police. Willy Russell wrote Blood Brothers using a lot of interesting