In scene 5 the audience get to meet Mr. Briggs. There first impressions would be of a nasty and strict teacher, we know this by some of the quotes he uses “Sit down, now, come on move!” This makes him sound bossy but also at the same time very formal. Mr Brigg’s throughout the story line remains strict, formal and bossy but does show emotion towards the end of the story where he decides to take the students to the fair. His change of personality came mainly because of the actions of Carol near the end of the story.
In scene 5 there is a big change in the atmosphere as Briggs makes his personality well known to the audience by making a speech on the bus when he arrives. There is also humour brought into the story line because after Mr Brigg’s mentions in his speech “and I don’t want any silly hand gestures” the students stick V Signs up on the back window as they leave the school. He tries to take control of the trip from Mrs Kay straight away. He talks to the students in a very sarcastic and patronising way “make sure we don’t enjoy ourselves” but also again when doing this he remains very formal however he is always very strict. In a way he tries to intimidate the students and the teaching staff especially Mrs Kay. The teachers also respond to Mr Brigg’s nearly the same way as the students “He’s coming to keep an eye on us”, “Ah well. We’ll just have to deal with him the best way we can”.
Mr Brigg’s is known to the audience as a very strict teacher as mentioned above until near the end of the story line, that’s when Mr Brigg’s actually does show some emotion and feeling. The story stars as the Lollipop man stops Mr Brigg’s in the middle of the road, to get Carol safely across the road however the Lollipop man was more concerned about stopping Mr Briggs because before Carol crosses the road the Lollipop man mentions to Carol “Got him this time, he’s an arrogant git, that one”. So just as soon as the story line starts we already get an impression on the type of character Mr Brigg’s is, or is made out to be. We also know that Mr Brigg’s dislikes the students because of his strict and nasty approach, to back this up Mr Brigg’s quotes to Mrs Kay “Sometimes I think your on there side”, when Mr Brigg’s is arguing with Mrs Kay about her laid back easy approach to the trip. However near the end of the story Mr Brigg’s brings out his nice side. Mr Brigg’s dislikes Mrs Kay a lot because of her teaching methods, he does threaten Mrs Kay about calling the trip off if she doesn’t start to organise the trip better, he also threatens to report Mrs Kay and the younger teaching staff to the head after the trip and again we see this as intimidation from Mr Briggs.
Scene 35 changes the audiences view’s on Mr Brigg’s dramatically because of what happens in the scene. The scene see’s Carol running off up onto the edge of a cliff peered over the sea. The teachers do not know where Carol is so they all go out to look for her.
The structure in scene 35 is very important because of Carol disappearing. We see Mr Brigg’s as a nasty, strict and formal teacher before the scene starts who always takes the opposite side to the students. Our opinion changes as we see a change in his personality when he finds carol on the cliff and his change continues through the rest of the scenes until the last scene when he returns back to school.
When Mr Brigg’s see’s Carol near the cliff he reacts sharply and strict “Carol come here now” however Carol does not react to Mr Brigg’s threats and stays near the edge of the cliff. Willy Russell tries to show that Mr Brigg’s is getting angrier because of the stronger his threats get “Carol I will give you five to come away from there”. Carol tries to ignore Mr Brigg’s and just answers him back “I want to stay here”, “I don’t want to go home”. As the conversation between Mr Brigg’s and Carol continues, Mr Brigg’s changes his tone. Mainly because of what Carol says ‘Sir you don’t like any of us, I seen the way you look at us in the morning”, “You don’t care about me sir”. Mr Brigg’s changes as Carol continues to talk. Eventually Mr Brigg’s stop’s using intimidation and threats and decides to talk to Carol, he also lowers his voice and moves away from being formal and strict. Carol’s reaction changes greatly as Mr Brigg’s real emotion sets in.
Carol shows us a lot about her background by the way she replies to Mr Brigg’s “Sir you know I can’t live here”, “If I was yours sir, I would be able to live here”. By the quotes we use we know that Carol knows herself that she has nothing to look forward to, no ambition and isn’t capable of getting a well paid job to move to a better area. This is a real important part of the story line, as again it relates to the setting of the play.
To conclude I think Willy Russell is very effective in making a realistic TV play because the story line is based on a realistic life in Liverpool in the 1970’s. Willy Russell gets across a message that we’re lucky to have what he have and that not everybody has the chances that some people have in life. The ending turned out nice compared to the play throughout and the characters played a vital part in making the play realistic. Mr Brigg’s appearance in the play was a very effective part on the teachers in the play because there is always a strict and formal teacher however is emotion change towards the end of the story line also had a great impact in the story and made the ending of the story line what it was. The conversation between Carol and Mr Brigg’s in Scene 35 helped greatly in getting Willy Russell’s message across but he also managed to fill the play with humour in some places, such as the starting scene which was Scene 5. All in all Willy Russell was very successful in achieving his aim and making a realistic play.
