Blood Brothers Analysis
I went to see the play Blood Brothers, on February the 12th at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham, which was directed by Billy Kenright.
The play was originally written by Willy Russell in 1983, Blood Brothers follows the lives of two twins Eddie and Mickey. The Johnstone twins are born into a very large, working class family, who struggle to get by with their mother Mrs Johnstone, who is a cleaner for a middle class woman Mrs Lyons.
Mrs Lyons’ husband is away on work, but they both wish they could have children, however she is unable to, and Mr Lyons doesn’t want to adopt. When Mrs Lyons finds out that Mrs Johnstone is pregnant with twins she manipulates her power to convince Mrs Johnstone to give one of the twins to her- promising her she can …show more content…
see him every day at work. When the twins are born, Mrs Lyons takes one and calls him Edward. Mrs Lyons is racked with guilt, and fear someone will find out what she has done – especially her husband- so fires Mrs Johnstone and tells her that if either of the two find out they are twins they will both die.
We then see the boys as children, although they come from very different economic backgrounds, the boys find friendship in one another, and become ‘Blood Brothers’ promising to be friends forever and protect one another. When Mrs Lyons finds out the two are friends she becomes very paranoid and moves away.
The Johnstone’s also are rehomed, and move away to the country side. Although both boys are in very different situations (Eddie in a boarding school, whereas Mickey is in a normal school), they still follow similar patterns, for example they both get excluded. The boys then rekindle their friendships as adolescents. But when Eddie goes to university things change, Mickey becomes depressed and jobless and Linda and Mickey get married, although they have no money, and Linda gets pregnant. When Eddie returns at Christmas expecting them to have fun together, he is met with the cold reality that things aren’t as good for Mickey and they have a row.
Mickey then goes to prison when a robbery he is involved with goes wrong. In prison he becomes dependant on anti-depressants and can’t function properly. When he gets outs of prison Linda speaks to Eddie, who is now councillor Edward Lyons, who gets them a job and a house. Though Mickey still can’t get off the antidepressants. Linda and Edward start to see one another behind Mickey’s back. When Mickey finds this out via Mrs Lyons, he is furious and goes to Eddie with a gun. In an attempt to get him to calm down Mrs Johnstone tells the boys the truth that they are brothers, then two shots go off, and both Eddie and Mickey are dead.
The play is set in the 1960’s and references this a lot.
With references to ‘going dancing’ and ‘Marilyn Monroe;’
The play I went to see, reflected the script originally written almost perfectly.
The set changed during the performance. At the start of the play in act one, there were backdrops of the scruffy Liverpool streets, with doors to the Johnstone’s house, and part of the Lyon’s house, which remained constant for the whole of act one. However, set pieces were also brought on, for example in the scenes in Mrs Lyons’ house a sofa was brought on for them to sit on. The set was fitting with the period of the play and reflected what the surrounding would have been like at that time. The costume designed reflected the period the play was set in, and also reflected the character. For example, Mickey (as a child) wore very scruffy and dirty shorts and t-shirts, whereas Eddie costume was much cleaner and neater. The costumes also reflected class for the other characters, such as Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons. What the characters wore also reflected their age, as Mickey, Eddie and Linda grew up we see their costumes change in order to reflect …show more content…
this.
Lots of sound was used in this piece, as it was a musical, it was used in nearly every scene. Sound was used to create mood and atmosphere, especially through the narrator’s character. When the narrator sung the music which accompanied this was often dark and dramatic and foreshadowed the tragedy at the end of the play. Most of the music throughout the play was cheery, especially at the start, this reflected the upbeat and happy elements of the play. The lighting in the play was often quite bright in order to show the actors, so the audience could see them all. But like with music, the lighting often darkened when the narrator was speaking/singing in order to emphasis him. At the end of the play, during the last song ‘Tell Me It’s Not True’, the lighting was also darker, this reflected the mood and the tragedy at the end of the play.
The style of acting was that of a musical, but it also had comedic elements as well as tragedy. Lots of dramatic techniques were used throughout the play. There was a lot of monologues used by all characters, especially the narrator. Multi-rolling was also used: as the narrator played multiple roles (the milkman, the bus conductor) Direct address was also used very effectively during this performance.
The characters were also made believable by their use of voice. By having an accent, and different characters using different dialect (for example: The Johnstone’s used much more colloquial language when compared to the Lyons’) This was sustained throughout the play in order to have consistently strong characterisation.
All the actors which performed in the play had very strong characterisation, you could see this as all characters were 100% believable, and all the actions, movements, and dialect of the character fitted together in order to create a seamless character.
The play had an overall huge impact on the audience.
As a member of the audience, you were affected by the emotions portrayed on stage; at the end of the play you really felt sad and sorry for the characters left. I enjoyed the play entirely, especially the use of monologues and direct address and stylised theatre throughout the performance, I found this really engaging as a member of the audience. I would recommend the show to most people, as I found it very entertaining and engaging, but also it contained a deeper comment on class structure and how unfair this is. However, I understand this play may not be for everyone, as musicals and singing are not something which everyone would enjoy.
From watching this piece of theatre, I have developed my skills of being a critical audience member whilst also developing my skills of watching theatre and thinking and talking about it. I have also learned more about how effective monologues and direct address can be when used effectively, and how much of an impact thorough characterisation can have on an audience. I also learnt more about accents, how these can be used effectively without being cliché, to create an effective characters and sustain role and characterisation throughout a
piece.
The play was originally written by Willy Russell in 1983, Blood Brothers follows the lives of two twins Eddie and Mickey. The Johnstone twins are born into a very large, working class family, who struggle to get by with their mother Mrs Johnstone, who is a cleaner for a middle class woman Mrs Lyons.
Mrs Lyons’ husband is away on work, but they both wish they could have children, however she is unable to, and Mr Lyons doesn’t want to adopt. When Mrs Lyons finds out that Mrs Johnstone is pregnant with twins she manipulates her power to convince Mrs Johnstone to give one of the twins to her- promising her she can …show more content…
see him every day at work. When the twins are born, Mrs Lyons takes one and calls him Edward. Mrs Lyons is racked with guilt, and fear someone will find out what she has done – especially her husband- so fires Mrs Johnstone and tells her that if either of the two find out they are twins they will both die.
We then see the boys as children, although they come from very different economic backgrounds, the boys find friendship in one another, and become ‘Blood Brothers’ promising to be friends forever and protect one another. When Mrs Lyons finds out the two are friends she becomes very paranoid and moves away.
The Johnstone’s also are rehomed, and move away to the country side. Although both boys are in very different situations (Eddie in a boarding school, whereas Mickey is in a normal school), they still follow similar patterns, for example they both get excluded. The boys then rekindle their friendships as adolescents. But when Eddie goes to university things change, Mickey becomes depressed and jobless and Linda and Mickey get married, although they have no money, and Linda gets pregnant. When Eddie returns at Christmas expecting them to have fun together, he is met with the cold reality that things aren’t as good for Mickey and they have a row.
Mickey then goes to prison when a robbery he is involved with goes wrong. In prison he becomes dependant on anti-depressants and can’t function properly. When he gets outs of prison Linda speaks to Eddie, who is now councillor Edward Lyons, who gets them a job and a house. Though Mickey still can’t get off the antidepressants. Linda and Edward start to see one another behind Mickey’s back. When Mickey finds this out via Mrs Lyons, he is furious and goes to Eddie with a gun. In an attempt to get him to calm down Mrs Johnstone tells the boys the truth that they are brothers, then two shots go off, and both Eddie and Mickey are dead.
The play is set in the 1960’s and references this a lot.
With references to ‘going dancing’ and ‘Marilyn Monroe;’
The play I went to see, reflected the script originally written almost perfectly.
The set changed during the performance. At the start of the play in act one, there were backdrops of the scruffy Liverpool streets, with doors to the Johnstone’s house, and part of the Lyon’s house, which remained constant for the whole of act one. However, set pieces were also brought on, for example in the scenes in Mrs Lyons’ house a sofa was brought on for them to sit on. The set was fitting with the period of the play and reflected what the surrounding would have been like at that time. The costume designed reflected the period the play was set in, and also reflected the character. For example, Mickey (as a child) wore very scruffy and dirty shorts and t-shirts, whereas Eddie costume was much cleaner and neater. The costumes also reflected class for the other characters, such as Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons. What the characters wore also reflected their age, as Mickey, Eddie and Linda grew up we see their costumes change in order to reflect …show more content…
this.
Lots of sound was used in this piece, as it was a musical, it was used in nearly every scene. Sound was used to create mood and atmosphere, especially through the narrator’s character. When the narrator sung the music which accompanied this was often dark and dramatic and foreshadowed the tragedy at the end of the play. Most of the music throughout the play was cheery, especially at the start, this reflected the upbeat and happy elements of the play. The lighting in the play was often quite bright in order to show the actors, so the audience could see them all. But like with music, the lighting often darkened when the narrator was speaking/singing in order to emphasis him. At the end of the play, during the last song ‘Tell Me It’s Not True’, the lighting was also darker, this reflected the mood and the tragedy at the end of the play.
The style of acting was that of a musical, but it also had comedic elements as well as tragedy. Lots of dramatic techniques were used throughout the play. There was a lot of monologues used by all characters, especially the narrator. Multi-rolling was also used: as the narrator played multiple roles (the milkman, the bus conductor) Direct address was also used very effectively during this performance.
The characters were also made believable by their use of voice. By having an accent, and different characters using different dialect (for example: The Johnstone’s used much more colloquial language when compared to the Lyons’) This was sustained throughout the play in order to have consistently strong characterisation.
All the actors which performed in the play had very strong characterisation, you could see this as all characters were 100% believable, and all the actions, movements, and dialect of the character fitted together in order to create a seamless character.
The play had an overall huge impact on the audience.
As a member of the audience, you were affected by the emotions portrayed on stage; at the end of the play you really felt sad and sorry for the characters left. I enjoyed the play entirely, especially the use of monologues and direct address and stylised theatre throughout the performance, I found this really engaging as a member of the audience. I would recommend the show to most people, as I found it very entertaining and engaging, but also it contained a deeper comment on class structure and how unfair this is. However, I understand this play may not be for everyone, as musicals and singing are not something which everyone would enjoy.
From watching this piece of theatre, I have developed my skills of being a critical audience member whilst also developing my skills of watching theatre and thinking and talking about it. I have also learned more about how effective monologues and direct address can be when used effectively, and how much of an impact thorough characterisation can have on an audience. I also learnt more about accents, how these can be used effectively without being cliché, to create an effective characters and sustain role and characterisation throughout a
piece.