Blood Brothers

Blood Brothers

My practical work in September to December was for my acting option.

It was a scripted piece of work based on the play Blood Brothers.

There are various themes in Blood Brothers, a clash of class, romance,

jealousy, and betrayal.

My contribution to the performance was as a seven-year-old child. I

played Edward. Edward is a very reserved character. He is well spoken

and polite and is very surprised and shocked at many things Mickey

(his friend) does. He comes from a wealthy background and so is used

to having everything he needs. He enjoys helping other people out.

When acting as Edward I needed to have a very good posture. Holding

myself well, this showed a contrast between Edwards’s upper class and

Mickey’s lower class. I also needed to speak well, pronouncing my

words clearly. This again showed a clear contrast between Mickey and

Edward’s class.

To help me in my work I looked for information on the Internet and

books I looked at pictures of young boys in the 1950’s, this helped me

choose my costume. I also listened to the Blood Brothers sound track,

and watched a professional performance of Blood Brothers at the

Phoenix Theatre. I also read a play called Blue remembered Hills by

Dennis Potter.

The most useful material I looked at was the production of Blood

Brothers at the Phoenix theatre. This is because it helped me with

many things. To begin with I watched and listened to Edward very

carefully. I took note of the way in which he moved and the facial

expressions he used. I also listened very carefully to the pace at

which he spoke and the tone of his voice. I could then use this to

improve my personal performance. I also observed the costume Edward

was wearing. This helped me to decide what I should wear for my

performance.

I am now going to contrast and compare Blood Brothers with Blue

Remembered Hills; our piece was set in the 1950’s. However, the other

play was set in 1943 during the Second World War. The plays were

similar because they both started off with people very happy, playing

and enjoying themselves. However as they continued both plays became

more serious and in the end at least one person was killed in both.

There also some differences. To begin with Blood Brothers is a

cyclical play. This means it starts at the end, then goes to beginning

then the end again. Blood Brothers also skipped large time gaps. The

play showed scenes with the same characters as children teenagers and

adults in the 1850’s 60;s 70’s and 80’s.