OCR GCSE Drama

27 A From your knowledge and understanding of Blood Brothers , identify examples of the following structural or stylistic features: • Narration • Climax • Conflict • Foreshadowing • A passage of a large amount of time. TASK 3.3 B Read the statements below about the play. Then work with a partner to put them in order, with the one you agree with most as 1, and the one you agree with least as 5. The play is about social class and the injustices associated with it. The play is a modern fairy tale or myth. It is a love story. It is a modern tragedy exploring the difficulties of the working class. The play shows the effects of one bad decision. Context In 1981, Willy Russell first wrote Blood Brothers as a youth play. He then developed it into a musical that was first performed in 1983. It enjoyed great success, including winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. Historical context Blood Brothers is set in Liverpool. Although Russell does not mention particular years in his play, the action is thought to span the late 1950s or early 1960s to the early 1980s. In the 19th century, Liverpool was a thriving city, with its port attracting industries and workers. During the 20th century, however, Liverpool’s economic fortunes began to fail as major employers, such as the docks and manufacturers, experienced difficulties. This was particularly severe in the 1970s and early 1980s, when many people lost their jobs. Russell depicts this when Mr Lyons sings ‘Take a Letter, Miss Jones’ while firing employees, including Mickey. The anxiety and desperation of those out of work is shown when Mickey explains what job-hunting is like: ‘But, but after three months of nothin’, the same answer everywhere, nothin’, nothin’, down for y’, I’d crawl back to that job for half the pay and double the hours.’ (page 92). In 1983, a Liverpool MP spoke in parliament about the effects of unemployment in Liverpool, where one in five people were ‘ on the dole ’ and, in some districts, half the inhabitants were unemployed. Unemployed workers wait outside the Ministry of Labour office in Liverpool, 1962. Teenagers kill time with an abandoned car in 1970s Liverpool. On the dole: Being out of work and receiving unemployment benefit from the government (from ‘doling’ or handing out of money). KEY TERm: bLOOD bROTHERS