'Sparkleshark': How do the characters arrive on the roof and what do their entrances say about them?'

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Laura Paterson 11CY

‘How do the characters arrive on the roof and

what do their entrances say about them?’

The play ‘Sparkleshark’, by Phillip Ridley, is about a group of kids and the different relationships between them. During the play, the characters overcome their prejudices & stereotypes, and develop their identity as a group, ending up as friends. This shows that people can look past the stereotypes, and see people for who they really are. During this essay, I’m going to study closely the entrance of Jake & Natasha to explore their characters.

        The first character to arrive on the roof is Jake. We can tell that Jake is a bit of a ‘geek’ from the way that the stage directions describe the way he looks. He has the appearance of a stereotypical ‘geek’, ‘his hair is neatly cut ‘, his uniform is ‘neat & tidy’, but his glasses with ‘the left lens cracked and the bridge held together by sticky tape’, makes us imagine a type of person who is probably picked on, and that’s why his glasses are broken.

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        When Jake enters the roof, he is ‘clutching a satchel’, which implies that rather than just carrying the bag, he is holding it very closely to himself, as if he is using it to hide behind. As he walks across the roof he is ‘familiar & comfortable’ with his surroundings, & the roof is described as his ‘secret hideaway’. The audiences’ presumption at these actions is that he likes, and is used to being by himself. Jake is a very antisocial character, he is very protective & he likes to keep himself to himself. We know this because when another ...

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