"In 'Our Day Out' Willy Russell Provides Us With Important Messages Whilst Keeping Us Entertained." Discuss this statement with reference to the characters, events and techniques used in the play.
'Our Day Out' was first made as a television play in 1977. The play was set in Liverpool when a lot of people were living on poverty and working in factories. Shortly after the television play was broadcast, Willy Russell released the new script. In 1978, the stage version was produced and altered to suit the primacies.
In the following essay, I am going to write about how the author, Willy Russell, puts across the point of poverty and unemployment onto a play whilst making it entertaining.
Firstly, I am going to comment on how Willy uses the children of the play to pursue how the kids of Liverpool were brought up in society.
The first point I am going to make is on how the children aren't given the chance to get a good education and on how they are prejudged on because they are in a progress class. Ronnie the driver prejudges them because they aren't in a posh school like he usually works for. A quote to support this point is when he says, 'we usually only do the better schools.' This is an example of how the children are judged on just because they go to a less well-funded school.
Next I am going to talk about how they don't get a chance to have a good education. This is implied when the head teacher says to Mr. Briggs that he is only letting them go on the trip because they won't learn much and they will only play with plastercine, so it gets them out of school and harms way. This is also an example of pre judgment because it is suggested that they don't want to learn and they will only end up working in a factory.
An example of bad parenting occurs when Andrews, one of the pupils, says to Mr. Briggs that he has been smoking since he was eight. This shows he has had no guidelines or boundaries in life. Mr. Briggs says 'what do your parents think of you smoking?' and Andrews replies, 'he beats me if I don't give him one'. This is a serious form of domestic violence hidden inside humor. Willy Russell uses humor to cover this point up because it keeps the film play entertaining.
Another example of boys that are main characters are Reilly and Digga, they are the likeable rogues of the film play. Reilly pretends that he likes the younger female teacher, Susan. I believe that he does this because he is scared of rejection and he wants to have a better life. This is like what Linda is trying to do with the younger male teacher, Colin. I think she is also trying to do this to escape the life of poverty by persuading him to marry. I believe Willy Russell uses Linda and Reilly to provide humor whilst ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
Another example of boys that are main characters are Reilly and Digga, they are the likeable rogues of the film play. Reilly pretends that he likes the younger female teacher, Susan. I believe that he does this because he is scared of rejection and he wants to have a better life. This is like what Linda is trying to do with the younger male teacher, Colin. I think she is also trying to do this to escape the life of poverty by persuading him to marry. I believe Willy Russell uses Linda and Reilly to provide humor whilst trying to include the serious issue of people escaping their present life.
Next I am going to talk about Ronson, a boy that shows signs of intelligence. Ronson's main message comes up when the class is at the zoo. He thinks that the bear in the pit isn't as angry as they say and shouldn't be in a pit. He says it is only angry at people for putting him there and if he wasn't in a pit, he wouldn't attack people. A quote to support this point is when Ronson is talking to Mr. Briggs and says,' It only kills people cos it's trapped an' people are always stood lookin' at it. If it was free it wouldn't bother people at all.' I think the author, Willy Russell, uses the bear to symbolize the children and how they are living, trapped in a rough and harsh society. Just like the bear. I believe that Ronson feels for the bear as he knows that the bear is just like him.
Secondly, I am going to talk about the message Willy Russell tries to pursue about the type of education Mrs. Kay and Mr. Briggs want for the children. Mrs. Kay thinks the government wants the kids to fail and them all to work in factories. Mr. Briggs thinks the children aren't willing enough to learn, no matter how they are taught.
Now I am going to talk about how Willy Russell uses Mrs. Kay to model good and bad points of teachers in the 1970's.
Mrs. Kay is good in some ways as she is the one that understands the children and organizes the trip. On the other hand, to get the go ahead for the trip she had to ask a stand in head teacher for permission as she knew she knew she wasn't aloud to take the progress class on anymore trips. This is because on a trip to Derby, the head teacher got a pile of complaints from local residents of the area.
Another bad point of Mrs. Kay occurs when she uses her manipulative skills to get the children onto the coach without the driver noticing they had their pockets full of sweets. She also gets the driver, Ronnie, to buy them more sweets by saying,' things like sweets and lemonade have never touched their lips.' I believe she does this because she is angry at Ronnie for judging the children on first impressions.
Although there are some bad points about Mrs. Kay, there are some good points used in the film play. During the play, Carol asks Mrs. Kay if she would live in a nice house with a garden. Mrs. Kay knows that she will probably never live in a nice house but says,' you could always try.' I believe she does this to keep Carol motivated at school and to give her something to aim for in life. It also shows that she cares for the children and their ambitions.
Next I am going to talk about the good and bad points of Mr. Briggs.
I think the purpose of Mr. Briggs is to model how teachers should be, but on the other hand, it shows how some teachers need to learn other ways to approach different children. For example, when Mr. Briggs is trying to persuade Carol to get away from the cliff edge. At the start he was shouting, telling her to get away from the edge, only when Carol said that he 'doesn't care for us kids', then he changed his plan of action. You can tell he got hurt by the comment Carol said about him and tries to make her think otherwise, but at the same time, persuading her to get away from the edge of the cliff. This point shows that he seems tough on the outside yet kind and understanding on the inside. Also it shows that deep down he does care about the children but uses the wrong techniques to go about it. Another reason is because he wants them to learn facts even though they are on a school trip.
A bad point about Mr. Briggs is when he destroys Mrs. Kay's photographs of the trip. I believe he did this because on them were pictures of him; having fun, showing his good side when he took the kids to the fair. This is bad for him as he wants the children and teachers to have respect for him and the photos, in his opinion, would change the way people saw him. Even though he thinks it's a good thing destroying them, I think he should have kept them because they weren't his to demolish.
Finally, I am going to talk about the techniques Willy Russell uses during the film play and the stage version.
Firstly I am going to talk about the script. The play is a black comedy with hidden messages about how life was in the 1970's. Willy Russell uses humour to cover up the fact that children in Liverpool were living on poverty. During the play, only snippets of information about the characters are given to help pace the film play and keep the audience intrigued throughout.
The language used by the teachers' contrasts with the language the children use. The teachers speak in Standard English and the children speak in slang. I think Willy Russell does this to emphasize how different they are. The children are common and the teachers seem to be doing well financially.
In the play, short scenes are used to imply that the pace of the play is moving quite quickly. This is more entertaining to the audience as it keeps them interested throughout. Willy Russell uses also uses humor to release the tension of disturbing issues. He does this by using black humor to disguise domestic violence and other issues. For example, when Andrews tells Mr. Briggs his dad beats him if he doesn't give him a cigarette.
Willy Russell contrasts using humor and despair to keep the audience entertained. By using humor, it only suggests depressing situations without making the play unbearable. This is a good technique because it keeps the audience entertained.
In the stage play, he uses minimalist settings so the audience concentrates on the important messages instead of how pretty the scene is. This also helps as it is easy to change the scenes. This is used to make the pace quicker. Songs and dances are used to entertain the audience but at the same time convey the message of unhappy children.
In conclusion to my essay, I believe in watching the film and stage play, the audience can learn how poverty can effect children in the 1970's and how children were treated in society.
From watching 'Our Day Out ' I have learnt that modern day people take a good education for granted and that a good education, in the 70's, was needed to get a better job than working in a factory.
So, in conclusion to my entire essay I believe Willy Russell provides the audience with important messages whilst keeping them entertained.
