Blood Brothers Play Guide for AQA GCSE Drama

SECTION B STUDY OF A SET PLAY: BLOOD BROTHERS 43 Characterisation You need to understand how different roles in the play could be performed. The playwright has given indications about the characters and their backgrounds, feelings and desires. Actors and directors must use their skills to convey these ideas to the audience. Areas to consider when developing a performance include: 4 The character’s importance to the play 4 Whether the character changes and develops during the play 4 In what ways an actor could use vocal and physical skills to portray the character 4 How an actor could use the stage space and interaction with others 4 How the play’s context and style might influence acting choices 4 What the character’s thoughts, feelings and motivations are and how these might be put across or influence acting choices 4 How the subtext of the character’s lines could be expressed 4 What impact the actor’s choices would have on how the audience understands the character. TEST YOURSELF B5 The following simple descriptions of characters from Blood Brothers indicate some of the important features that need to be considered when developing characterisations. Match each one with the correct character’s name. KEY TERMS Motivations: The feelings behind what a character wants or needs, in a particular scene. Subtext: The unspoken meaning, feelings and thoughts ‘beneath’ the lines, which might be shown in the characters’ body language, tone of voice and facial expressions. LINDA NARRATOR MRS LYONS MR LYONS MRS JOHNSTONE EDWARD SAMMY POLICEMAN Characters Descriptions A warm-hearted, working-class mother, who regrets some of the key decisions she has made. He withholds declaring his love for Linda, instead encouraging his friend to express how he feels about her. He might be a good father in some ways, but he often seems absent, either physically or emotionally, from family life. A mysterious figure who often increases the tension and apprehension of the approaching tragic ending. As a teenager, she is obsessed with Mickey, and loudly proclaims her love for him. His life dramatically takes a turn for the worse when he loses his job and is sent to prison. He demonstrates his prejudices by treating the Lyons family very differently from the way he acts with Mrs Johnstone. He seems to start off as he will go on, growing from a badly behaved, bullying boy into a violent criminal. She changes throughout the play, from a seemingly conventional middle-class woman to an increasingly distraught and unstable one. MICKEY