Play As The Same Song example essay topic

What Devices and Techniques Does Willy Russell Employ in "Blood Brother"? How Successful Are They In Communicating The Themes & Ideas Of The Play? To start a play each dramatist has to make a number of decisions. They have to decide what they want the viewers to think of the play, whether it should be believable or just to convey a theme and for the audience to sit in judgment of the play. In this play Russell decided to make the audience sit in judgement, and they were sitting in judgement of why the twins died, and he did so by using a series of techniques and devices to make sure there was a barrier, to make us concentrate on how the play explores the inequalities of the class system. Blood Brothers was a creative experiment, where two brothers are split at birth and placed into different classes and see how it affected their lives.

This does indeed sound like a Greek myth, but there are no Greek myths about twins secretly parted at birth, and that die on the 'self-same day' after learning the truth about their background. This shows us that the underlying themes in this play are of superstition and class. Most of the techniques and devices used in Blood Brothers have been used before. Aristotle was a Greek playwright born in 384 BCE.

He believed that every play should follow a series of unties, such as it should follow real time, Blood Brothers does not fit into this category as the storyline spreads over a period of 35 yrs. He also believed that a lot of the play should remain in the same place but blood brothers does not follow this rule either as the mid way through the play the storyline shifts to the country. The third unity that Aristotle devised was that there should be a lot of action in the play. Blood Brothers succeeds in this criteria as the very first page of the play is about twins born and separated on the same day, however the evidence against blood brothers following Aristotle's unities is too great so blood brother must follow different techniques instead. A 20th century German playwright, Bert olt Brecht, devised epic theatre, which is not meant to create a realistic situation. Epic theatre had both tragedy and comedy.

Blood brothers have both of these in the play for instance at the end of the play both of the twins are shot dead. Brecht wanted to make the audience learn something and this is exactly what Russell did. Blood brothers can fit into several categories of what sort of play it could be. It could be also a ballad opera. John Gay who wrote Beggars opera thought up ballad opera. Beggar's opera is an attack on society as is Blood Brothers.

Russell attacks the British class system. It could also fit into the category of a comedy as it has several jokes in it. Traditionally, comedies do not end in death but Russell successfully blends comedy and tragedy. Throughout the play we experience different types of humour, such as the use of a pun when Mickey and Eddie are discussing Sammy's head. Mickey tells Edward about Sammy having a plate put in his head after an accident Edward says: "a side plate?" and Mickey replies "No, on the top". This pun leads to misunderstanding due to the children's innocence and the way they are oblivious to the double meaning makes this conversation amusing.

It could also be a tragedy because of the twins' deaths'. The appearance of both of these could make this play a tragicomedy. The fact that there are elements of sadness, happiness, frustration and pain in this play tells us that this play is not as straightforward as it seems. Unlike the Greeks, Brecht would not focus on real time. This was all part of making the audience look on as a critical observer. Brecht did not like real drama.

Real drama is when the play can be believable and a focus on everyday lives, so he wanted to make his plays artificial. He did so by using 'Verfremdungseffekt' or in more understandable form, distancing devices. Distancing devices took the realism out of the storyline and are non naturalistic. The sort of distancing devices that he used are songs, dancing, narration, time movements, poems and monologues.

Russell used songs as a means of distancing because it moves the action along, this is important as the play spans thirty five years in just a couple of hours. This shows that the songs also help to condense time. A song can also help to convey and relate the characters feelings. It can also be a reminder in this play as the same song is used several times to remind the character of something, namely 'the devils got your number', that tells Mrs Lyons that her time is up and that it will not be long until Mickey and Eddie find out about their background. It can also enhance the dramatic mood. At the beginning in the first song Ms Johnstone is singing about how well her life is going, then she becomes pregnant and her husband leaves her.

This is a good example of how comedy and tragedy are both used in this play. Marilyn Monroe is used a lot in this play. At first Marilyn Monroe is used as a role model, and Mrs Johnstone says that her husband compares her to her, and they dance together. Then Mrs Johnstone becomes pregnant and her husband refuses to dance with a woman that is twice the size of Marilyn Monroe.

Throughout the play Marilyn is used both as a role model and someone that is unacceptable. This follows the way that Marilyn Monroe led her life. At first she was respected and then she became involved with drinks and drugs. The first songs about her were happy and joyful and then as the storyline developed and thickened the songs would become gloomy and depressive. A song is also a way of commenting on the action in the play, perhaps by the narrator. Not all of the songs work together, but collectively they can do one of the things mentioned above.

Another way of distancing the audience from the realism of the play is to have a narrator. Narrating originated from the Greek chorus; the Greek chorus was a practical necessity. It made the transitions between scenes, giving the actors a chance to enter or leave the playing area, and could comment on what was happening in the play. In blood brothers the narrator sets the scene as well as playing multi rolls. The roles he played were a doctor, a milkman, and a bus conductor. This narrator is also the bringer of bad news.

When he was the doctor he told Mrs Johnstone that she was not pregnant with one baby but was going to have twins. If she did not have twins this plot would not have happened, and she would not have had to give one of her babies away to Mrs Lyons. When he was the bus conductor he caught Sammy trying to evade a bus fare, Sammy reacted and the conductor played the hero and took him to the police station. Sammy is Mickey and Eddie's brother. Another distancing device are the time movements, if this play were to be believable they would not try and fit thirty-five years into one short play. It is also coincidental that the period that Mrs Lyons husband is away on a business trip is the same period that Mrs Johnstone was going to have her baby.

The monologue present in this play is also very unrealistic. The interaction with the audience is false and is not normal..