What techniques and devices does Willy Russell use in 'Blood Brothers'? How effective are they in communicating the message of the play?
What techniques and devices does Willy Russell use in 'Blood Brothers'? How effective are they in communicating the message of the play?
'Blood Brothers' is an experiment. Willy Russell poses the question of 'What would happen if two brothers born on the same day, raised by two different families, on either side of the class boundaries. One family was on the middle class side, and the other was on the working class side. Willy Russell wants to know whether it would affect their lives. He wanted to show the impact of class boundaries on people's lives.
One of Willy Russell's main objectives was to pack 35 years into a play. Before him, Aristotle - 'The Master of Greek Drama' practicaly wrote the rules of Greek Drama. He believed that all plays should follow 3 unities:
. Time
2. Place
3. Action
Aristotle thought that all plays should take as long to perform as it does in real life. Obviously (for time reasons) 'Blood Brothers' is not 35 years long. Aristotle thought that all plays should take place in the same location. Again Willy Russell does not keep 'Blood Brothers' inside that rule. Willy Russell, though, does make 'Blood Brothers' stick to the action rule. The play is linked to 1 main storyline. 'Blood Brothers' is about 2 twins who are seperated at birth and die on the same day. Willy Russell only followed 1 out of 3 unities from Aristotle's rules.
'Blood Brothers' is more like Epic Theatre. Willy Russell wants us to sit in judgement of 'Blood Brothers' and to judge the characters. Another Epic Theatre playwright was Bertolt Brecht, who lived in Nazi Germany during World War 2. He wrote a play about a fruit and vegetable seller in New York and how he came to rise to become the leading fruit and vegetable seller in America with stores nationwide. He called it 'The Resistable Rise of Arturio Ui'. It became a hit with the German public of the time. Everybody knew it was based on the rise of the German Nationalist Socialist
Party (Nazi Party) and Adolf Hitler. When the Nazis realised this, they banned the play and destroyed all the manuscripts. Luckily, his composer friend Kurt Weill (with whom he wrote 'The Threepenny Opera' with) told him of a tip-off he had received and that night they fled Germany. They left Germany on foot, as not to arouse suspicion and then travelled to the United States.
'The Threepenny Opera' was adapted by Brecht from the English playwright John Gay's opera - 'The Beggar's Opera'. John Gay took some of the popular songs of his time (1700s) and ...
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Party (Nazi Party) and Adolf Hitler. When the Nazis realised this, they banned the play and destroyed all the manuscripts. Luckily, his composer friend Kurt Weill (with whom he wrote 'The Threepenny Opera' with) told him of a tip-off he had received and that night they fled Germany. They left Germany on foot, as not to arouse suspicion and then travelled to the United States.
'The Threepenny Opera' was adapted by Brecht from the English playwright John Gay's opera - 'The Beggar's Opera'. John Gay took some of the popular songs of his time (1700s) and changed the lyrics and meaning to suit his play. It was a scathing attack on capitalism in London. It was from the point of view of a gangster. It was nicknamed 'The Ballad Opera' which is an attack on society. 'Blood Brothers' is a 'Ballad Opera' as it attacks the question: "What is the effect of class boundaries in people's lives"
'Blood Brothers' is a tragedy as it has a sad ending (the twins dying) but it also has comedy. We call this 'Tragicomedy'. It is also 'Epic Theatre' as 'Blood Brothers' is not realistic, and Willy Russell wants us to sit in judgement. According to Willy Russell, 'Blood Brothers' is a melodrama as it involves dramatic exitement and strong emotions.
Bertolt Brecht used a device called 'Verfremdungseffekt' (which means distancing devices) in his plays. He adds effects which distances the play from real life. Willy Russell uses this in 'Blood Brothers'. He uses songs, a narrator, characters, plot, staging as a way of distancing 'Blood Brothers' from real life.
Willy Russell uses songs to move the action on (condenses time). An example of condensing time is when the narrator sings when Mickey, Edward and Linda are caught by the policeman. Willy Russell squeezes 4 years into 1 song and shows the most important snippets of Mickey and Edward through those 4 years. Willy Russell uses songs to convey the characters feelings like when Mickey and Edward meet again after Mr and Mrs Lyons moved away and Mrs Johnstone along with her (non-existent) husband and her 8 kids got re-housed. The songs act as a reminder to the audience and characters. They enhance the dramatical mood and convey characters dreams. These songs, which convey characters dreams are called 'I wish' songs. An 'I wish' song example is when Edward had just moved away and Mickey went knocking for him in his old house:
"My best friend ... I wish I could be like that..."
The characters use songs to comment on the action. The narrator mainly does this as well as moving the play on.
The idea of a narrator came from the Greek Chorus, who set the scene in Greek Plays. In 'Blood Brothers', the narrator does sets the scene up, but also acts as a go between, from the characters to the audience. The narrator in 'Blood Brothers' has many different roles e.g the milkman, a gynaecologist etc. The narrator controls the story, he is the 'puppeteer' of the play. He is the one that reminds and reinforces superstition into the play. Generally, the narrator brings bad luck - he is the 'embodiment of fate'. When Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons are discussing the new baby, the gynaecologist comes in and tells Mrs Johnstone that she is having twins. The narrator makes 'Blood Brothers' an 'Epic Theatre'. He comes out and goes 'sit and judge for yourselves'. The narrator is never far away from the twins and pops up to explain to you what is going on.
One of the biggest distancing devices used by Willy Russell are the characters. Many plays use different characters to play different ages, 'Blood Brothers' however does not. It uses the same characters throughout the play. If Willy Russell used different actors and actresses for different ages then you would not feel sympathy towards that character. Some characters exist only to allow the plot to continue e.g Sammy and Mr Lyons. Sammy and Mr Lyons are 1dimensional characters. Sammy's purpose is to destroy Mickey's life, whereas Mr Lyons function is as the traditional Englishman of the time. He leaves the housework etc to his wife, while he is at work. Mrs Lyons is just a loving woman who cannot have children and makes the mistake of wanting a child so badly she would do anything. Although it was wrong, she and Mrs Johnstone thought it was wise to do it at the time. Mrs Johnstone, also is a loving mother, who wants what is best for her children. She has been rather unfortunate, because she gets pregnant without trying. Eddie is the luckier of the 2twins, as he gets Mrs Lyons and has his life 'set up' for him. Mickey is not really the unluckier of the 2 but he feels that he would much rather have been Edward, and Edward feels the same way about Mickey.
In 'Blood Brothers', Willy Russell uses fate and coincedences in the lives of Mickey, Edward, Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons to
portray class and superstition. Willy Russell uses 'parallel' scenes to show the different way that classes are treated. An example of this parallel scene is when Edward, Mickey and Linda are using an air psitol to shoot at Peter Pan in the park and the policeman catches them. We see the policeman speaking to Mrs Johnstone, telling her that the next time she will end up in court. We then see the same policeman sipping scotch with Mr and Mrs Lyons saying that his pocket money should be docked for a week or two. In 'Blood Brothers' all the coincedences, have had an unlucky 'superstition' happen just before it. When Mrs Johnstone sees Mrs Lyons in the morning, when she arrives to do her job, we see Mrs Lyons putting new shoes on the table. Mrs Johnstone then reacts. Moments later, the gynaecologist walks in and says that Mrs Johnstone is expecting twins. Willy Russell has to cram 35 years into the space of about 2 hours (breaking Aristotle's rules of Greek Drama). He then needs to show the main points of the Edward and Mickey's life and friendship together. This generally goes up in 7 years at a time. In the 'One for Sorrow, Two for Joy' song, the 7th verse is 'Seven for a secret never to be told'. The narrator controls the plot, and has the ability to move 'Blood Brothers' on in time. The plot is about superstition, but the meaning of the play is the effect of class boundaries on people's lives.
Willy Russell uses very few stage props. He does not have many changes in backgound, and props. On one side of the stage there was the Johnstone's house and on the other side there was the Lyon's house.
With the 2 houses you can see the difference between the working class and the middle class. It is simple, suggestive staging. It lets the acting be more fluent and fluid, than other plays with a lot of scene changes. Willy Russell pays no attention to minute details. When Mickey, Edward and Linda are shooting at Peter Pan in the park, they would be standing in the centre of the stage 'shooting' the audience. Whereas other plays would actually bring on a Peter Pan statue, Willy Russell does not. If Willy Russell paid attention to minute detail the play and meaning would not have been as effective.
Throughout the play Willy Russell explores the impact of class boundaries on people's lives. Willy Russull explores this and is effective in putting this across using very simple techniques. It was nothing like what would happen in real life, as Willy Russell used 'Verfremdungseffekt' (distancing devices) to the upmost quality. He used them really effectively.
By Jamie Connolly
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