GCSE Drama Review of 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell.

GCSE Drama Review of 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell As we walked into the auditorium of the Phoenix Theatre, London on Thursday 3rd July to see the matinee performance of the musical 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell, the first thing that struck me was the vibrant and rich red and gold paint. I also noticed that from the walls and ceiling you could detect what era the theatre was built in. On the walls of the Phoenix Theatre were Victorian paintings and the red and gold painted walls and the red seating all suggested that this theatre was built during the Victorian era. I sat down on row D, seat 19 so I was quite close to the stage, ready to watch the performance as the house lights dimmed. The seats were very close to the stage making every performance quite intimate. The seating was raked and consisted of stalls, balconies and private boxes. e.g. Set: The Proscenium Arch stage was also raked, and before and partially into the beginning of the performance there was just a black gauze through which the set was visible. As the performance was a matinee the majority of the audience were High School teenagers but there were some elderly/middle-aged people in the auditorium as well. This meant that the atmosphere in the auditorium was buzzing which was probably due to the teenagers, and the fact that the 1600 seater auditorium was almost full. Once the house lights went

  • Word count: 2696
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How is the Narrator portrayed in Blood Brothers and what is his function?

Transfer-Encoding: chunked Narrator Essay In Blood Brothers the narrator is a ubiquitous and enigmatic character whose function is to act as a dramatic device to continue the story, foreshadow events and allow the audience to see a projection of the consciousness of some of the characters, particularly Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons. He is only present during sad and intense dramatic points in the play, and therefore brings a grave presence to the play. He brings in the themes of superstition, violence and social class, which are key to the play, but also gives the play a darker side through his link with evil and the devil throughout the play. Firstly, the appearance of the Narrator is very important in understanding his character. His outfit of a black shirt is very versatile, allowing him to move in and out of different scenes while remaining anonymous. This may be done to accentuate his mysterious and ghost like atmosphere, adding to his connection with the underworld. However, it could also be said that his attire is similar to that of someone attending a funeral or business meeting, foreshadowing and constantly reminding the audience of the ultimate tragedy and the contractual ‘bargain’ that Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons share. At the start of the play he tells us what is to happen to Mickey and Eddie; how they will die “on the self same day”. The Narrator

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Pretend you are Linda, how would she feel at the end of Blood Brothers?

Transfer-Encoding: chunked Pretend you are Linda, how would she feel at the end of Blood Brothers? My God, I can’t believe it, I just can’t. My Mickey, mine. I loved him so much, no matter how much I told him, it never got old. And Eddie, my love grew for him more and more as the days got on. He had done so much for us, he would have done anything for me and Mickey. We had known each other since we were kids, I’ve got so many memories of us three, playing cowboys, cops and robbers. I wouldn’t change a day I spent with Mickey and Eddie. Not even the time Mickey found Sammy’s air rifle and we all ended up getting told off by the police because Eddie didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. It seemed like a dream come true when we all found each other in the countryside again. All the fun started all over again, of course by then I knew my feeling towards Mickey, I told him every day, before school ‘Mickey, I love you’ and after school ‘Mickey I love you.’ He was too shy though, it only used to embarrass him. I don’t know if we would ever have got together if it wasn’t for Eddie. Eddie had such a good heart, he told me that he loved me and the same day he told Mickey to get his act together. Eddie just wanted to make me happy, that’s who he was, and he would’ve done anything to please you. ‘Course he went off to university, he came from a

  • Word count: 526
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Blood Brothers

James Mason Blood Brothers Blood Brothers is a very popular play written by author and playwright Willy Russell. It was first performed in a Liverpool school in 1981. Willy Russell himself was born and brought up in Liverpool by his working class mother and father. At school he was an academic failure he left with one O level in English. After six years working as a hairdresser he went back to college part time to get decent qualifications. The play is about twin brothers born into a large family, one child is given up for adoption and the other is kept. The story shows how their lives have been linked since birth but gradually become separated because of the background and upbringing. At the end of the play blood is shed as both brothers are tragically murdered by Mrs Lyons the foster mother. I think blood brothers is more than just a documentary about the everyday lives of the twins. It is also a comedy, a musical, a drama but most of all it is a real life soap opera dealing with issues such as poverty, class, welfare, health, unemployment, adolescent relationships, family and education. Throughout the play there is a lot of comedy. These comical moments helps to keep the readers interest. Liverpudlians have always had a reputation for their humor. Even when they are swearing it does not seem offensive. Examples of comedy in the play are in act 2 scene 1 when Mrs

  • Word count: 922
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Blood Brothers

Blood Brothers . On stage left were the posh houses where Edward lived, on stage right were the council houses that Mickey and his family lived in. Upstage centre was a brick wall with a painted goalpost, lots of graffiti. The piece of graffiti that stood out the most was the word 'Everton'. Upstage right was a large alleyway. On both stage left and stage right in between the houses were smaller alleyways. 2. Mickey- Young Linda-Teen * Large sleeveless V-neck Pullover * Short Black skirt * Very dirty white plimsolls * High heeled black stilettos * Large dirty shorts- falling down. * Blond hair- worn in a high ponytail. * Black socks * White shirt, couple of buttons undone revealing stomach and cleavage (just). * Grubby white shirt (short sleeved under green pullover) * * Dirty knees, face, hands and arms. * Shirt tied at bottom * Dark, messy hair. * 3. The childhood scenes were made realistic by the costumes the children wore. For example Linda wore a girly dress and wore her hair in pigtails. The voices also made these scenes realistic because the males made their voices higher. The scenes were made humorous by the games they played and how excitable they were. 4. One of the actor's performances I enjoyed was that of Sammy because he was a troublemaker. His performance was made effective by the sneaky attitude he had and the tough loud voice

  • Word count: 479
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Blood Brothers.

In this essay I will be analyzing a key section, from the narrators poem, where Edward and Mickey meet, Mickey's poem and finally where Mrs. Johnston meets Edward. I will be examining what the background is going to be like, the way actors say particular dialogues, they way I would like them to act on some occasions e.g. Mickey's character should be funny and very imaginative like any 7 year old will be "Y'know our Sammy, Y'know what he sometimes does? He wees straight through the letterbox of the house next door to us. I tried to do it one night but I had to stand on a crate, 'cos I couldn't reach the letter box but I will by the time I'm eight"(pg.22, Mickey's poem) can you please get a crate and stand on it and pretend to wee in the next doors letterbox. (Only do this thing on the underlined line) Willy Russell was born in Whiston, just outside Liverpool in 1947, and at age of five moved to Knowsley. His father used to own a fish & chips shop and his mother used to work in a warehouse. At school in English silent reading he realized to become a writer, He left school in 1962 with an English O level (G.C.S.E) this was his only qualification, because of his only one qualification he worked as a hairdresser for six years, He then started to take English literature classes. Having passed this he then decided to go to college for a year to train to become a teacher. He wrote

  • Word count: 1308
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Blood Brothers

Blood Brothers The play 'Blood Brothers' was written by playwrite Willy Russell in the 1980's, which is also when it is set. It is based in and around Liverpool and follows the lives of twin brothers who are separated at birth and live apart, oblivious to each other's existence. Micky stays with his mother (Mrs Johnstone) who cannot afford to have two more mouths to feed and (Mrs Johnstone) sells her other son Eddie to a rich couple who are unable to have children. They meet up again and become best friends growing up together. After dabbling in drugs, women, robbery, guns and the counsel, they end up hating each other. Not until the end when Micky is near breaking point and Eddie heading that way, do they find out they're brothers. I enjoyed this play very much. It has a plot which slowly builds up the tension and drama, starting off with the two brothers being as happy as can be and builds up to the climax. It is a gradual crescendo of tension and excitement as their lives get worse and worse as the play goes on. The mood of the play distinctively changes around half way through. After the audience is shown the end scene at the start of the play the plot is quite light hearted and has some very funny moments, like the conversation between Mickey and Eddie when they first meet and the almost slap-stick scene where the children are playing cowboys and Indians. Then the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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' Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell

GCSE Drama Coursework ' Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell I decided to work with Roxy and Duncan within my group. I had worked with Roxy on many occasions during drama lessons; I knew she was very good at drama and reliable. She was very hard working and always wanted to make sure her parts were well rehearsed and all of her lines were learnt. Duncan had a lot of confidence in his work and ability to act. I had worked with Duncan on many occasions before not just in drama classes but in school plays as well. The whole of our group which included Alex Porter, but I didn't directly work with her, felt it would be good to have Duncan in our group because most of the scenes needed a male part. I had never worked with Alex before but I knew that she was a strong and confident actress. The entire group was very dependable and hardworking. We were all comfortable with each other and so we found it easy to work well in our group and reach our full acting potential. We were all given a script of 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell. We all read through the script first in class and we all enjoyed it. Some of the scenes were very funny but others were also very dramatic. We enjoyed reading the script and felt we could do well at acting it out. We then had to choose which scenes to do, and also which characters we were going to play. I played the part of Linda, whom Mickey, played by

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Blood Brothers Coursework

Matt littlefair Essay On Blood Brothers Deadline - 06/03/06 Blood Brothers is a story of a pair of twins who are separated at birth. They are brought up in totally different ways and this is shown through the characters register, body language and reactions to each other. They story is told by various methods such as the use of an interventionist narrator and soliloquy in the form of songs by the characters. In this essay I intend to analyse various techniques and themes which help establish this play to the succesful status it has attained. The Play is written by Willie Russell. Willie Russell was born just outside Liverpool in Whiston, 1947. After leaving school with one English O-level, he then went on became a ladies hairdresser. In his spare time he would write comical songs but would never sing them in public until one night at his local pub, his friend put him up to sing, and for the first time sang a song he wrote about the 'Kirkby Estate' where he had his audience in 'gales of laughter'. 'Blood Brothers' is set at a crucial time in British history. It is set in Liverpool in the early 1980s at a time when many of the working class were being replaced by machines as it was cheaper. The educated people, though were hardly affected. We see Mrs Johnston a hard-working woman, pregnant, alone with seven children and struggling to pay her debts. Then we

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Blood Brothers Coursework

Blood Brothers Coursework In this coursework I will compare how different environments affect a Childs attitude. To do this, as a director I would want the two actors Mickey and Eddie to act completely different. As we read further into the scene and the boys begin to have a chat about the words they know, we begin to notice the difference in the two boys vocabulary. We learn that Mickey is cheeky and streetwise for instance the words he uses such as "Pissed off." This shows the audience that Mickey has been brought up in an environment were this sort of language is commonly used. The actor who plays Mickey could make himself look tough and gain respect from his friend by using foul language and saying it in a bold way. Were as the actor playing Eddie could act surprised and show admiration to Mickey because he knows these word, they are words Eddie has never heard of. The actors can continue Eddie's naivety and Mickey's through out the rest of the scene. An example of this is when the two boys are having a conversation about the "F" word. Eddie says he will look it up in the dictionary also Mickey shows ignorance when he calls a dictionary a "Thingy" because he doesn't know what one is. Through out the scene the two actors should show they are felling safer in each other's company. This should replace the caution shown at the begging of the film. By the end of

  • Word count: 1060
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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