gcse drama

GCSE Drama Performance and Response

Written Paper: Section A

Hello Year 10! What a strange time for us all. It has been great to

see some excellent work from you for the Devising Drama unit. Please

continue on that work, as well as starting to work on Blood Brothers.

Please make sure your name is on every piece of work you complete,

as this will be used when you recap Blood Brothers at school.

The best place to start with this topic, is to watch Blood Brothers on

YouTube. If you type in Blood Brothers, watch ‘Blood Brothers – Theatre

Ink 2014’ as this is a good example of the play on stage! We have studied

parts of the play before, so please give the questions a go.

At any time, please either of us on:

Mr Taylor – [email protected]

Mrs Bellamy – [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Brief synopsis

The story ‘Blood Brothers’ tracks the lives of twins Mickey and Edward. The play is divided

into two acts, and has many songs. A narrator speaks to the audience at the beginning and

throughout the play, commenting on the action and setting the scene.

Mrs Johnstone, who has been abandoned by her husband, already has five children and is

expecting twins. She works as a cleaner for childless Mrs Lyons who offers, unofficially to

adopt one of the babies. Mrs Johnstone reluctantly agrees as she is concerned that she can’t

afford to bring up two more children and, due to Mrs Lyons wealth, knows that the child will

be afforded a good chance in life. There is a prophesy that twins parted at birth will die

immediately when they discover the truth so both mothers do their best to keep their twins,

Mickey and Edward, separated.

Edward goes to university, while Mickey starts work in a factory. After marrying Linda

Mickey loses his job. He turns to a life of crime but gets caught and goes to jail. After his

release, he becomes dependant on tranquilisers. Linda turns to Edward, now a councillor, for

help. Edward gets Mickey a job – and a house.

Mrs Lyons tells Mickey that Edward is having an affair with Linda and Mickey goes after

Edward armed with a gun. He finds him at a meeting but feels unable to shoot him. Mrs

Johnstone bursts in and tells them the truth. Waving his gun around in frenzy it goes off.

Mickey accidentally kills Edward and in turn is shot by the police.

Genre and Style

Blood Brothers was written to be performed as a piece of musical theatre. It is a tragic

story but is interspersed with comedic elements mainly focused around the childhood and

teenage years of Mickey and Eddie. The play starts by revealing the ending of the story

and after this, it follows a chronological structure. It spans three decades from the 1950s

– 1970s, picking out significant periods in the two brothers’ lives. The play was written to be

performed on a Proscenium Arch stage.

Key characters

Mrs Johnstone Mrs Lyons Mickey

Linda Narrator Edward

Key themes and Issues

Social class The contrast between two different social classes forms the heart of the play. The leading

characters can be seen to be social stereotypes, presented dramatically in order to

emphasise certain important differences in social class. Russell does this to show the

unfairness that it results in.

Education This theme is linked to social class. Russell shows that wealth brings different educational

opportunities and these lead to very different lifestyles. Eddie and Mickey are educated

differently. One goes on to university and a successful career in politics, the other takes on

a factory job making boxes. Redundancy and lack of opportunity then lead Mickey to crime,

drug addiction and depression. Without a better education Russell is saying that Mickey had

few options, and so we are asked to see Mickey’s mistakes in a sympathetic light

The effects of education shape the lives of the women in the play too. When Mrs Johnstone

loses her husband she falls into poverty, from which her lack of education has provided her

with no easy means of escape. She can only acquire unskilled work and has to rely on the

State for housing. Compare her with Mrs Lyons who similarly, despite presumably a middle-

class education, is not self-reliant. In this case Russell is suggesting perhaps that the

traditional lives the women lead have less freedom, even when they are educated.

Nature vs. Nurture The ‘nature versus nurture’ debate is exemplified through Mickey and Eddie. They are twins

and so the difference in the way their lives turn out must be a result of their different

upbringings and social positions. Russell uses the concept of twins to persuade us that

attitudes in society influence peoples’ lives more than their individual efforts at wanting to

do well. Russell’s play is deliberately objecting to a view of Margaret Thatcher’s right wing

conservative government, who claimed that everyone who wanted to work hard could be

successful.

Fate and destiny Each of the leading characters is presented as being trapped and plagued by various kinds of

misfortune and bad luck. Russell seems to be asking us to consider whether there really is

such a thing as fate or destiny or whether life pans out because of natural rather than

supernatural reasons, because of the way we are educated and live.

Growing Up Life, for the children, is shown to be a carefree game in Act One. However the pressures of

growing up in different backgrounds and educational systems are shown to bring problems

later on.

It is the different experience of growing up that ends the friendship between Edward and

Mickey. For example after Mickey loses his job Edward tries to be positive about his

situation but Mickey tells Edward that he cannot understand living on the dole. He says that

Edward hasn’t had to grow up like him, to face the difficulties of the adult world and that

they don’t have anything in common any more.

Men and women The three leading female characters in the play (Mrs. Johnstone, Mrs. Lyons and Linda)

suffer at the hands of the men in their lives – they are either let down by their husbands or

receive no affection from them. Russell presents a world where the roles of women and men

are sharply separate, as a result of the roles given to men and women within their social

classes. The female characters tend to be more passive, the male characters are shown as

being active and macho.

Money

Mrs. Johnstone’s life in debt, buying things on the ‘never-never’, leads to problems but Mrs

Lyons’ wealthy existence fails to bring her contentment and happiness either. Money controls

the relationship of Edward and Mickey too – once Edward returns from university as a

wealthy man, Russell suggests that his friendship with the penniless Mickey can no longer be

the same, as he cannot appreciate Mickey’s reaction to being jobless and nor can Mickey’s

pride allow him to accept financial help from Edward.

Key Vocabulary and Information

Section One

These questions focus on language and will appear in the exam in a similar format. The

question could look at the performance of a character, or the whole text. It generally asks

you to respond to a quote. This question will provide a line spoken by one of the characters

in the play. You will be required to explain the impact the line has on the character in the

performance text you have studied. You must be able to link this to your wider

understanding and themes/issues of the play.

Edward – “Well my mummy doesn’t allow me to play down here actually”

Point Evidence / key moment/scene Explanation Edward’s vulnerability

Edward has been brought up in an

upper class home, and he behaves

more childlike.

The audience have sympathy

for Edward, because he

behaves like a young child.

Mrs Lyons – “They say that if either twin learns that he was once a pair, they shall both

immediately die.”

Point Evidence / key moment/scene Explanation Use of superstition as a key

theme

Mrs Lyons puts the shoes on the

table and Mrs Johnstone panics.

Superstition links to the

death of both brothers at

the end of the play, as they

discover they are related.

Mrs Johnstone – “Here, Edward. Take this locket with you, and remember me.”

Point Evidence / key moment/scene Explanation

Mickey – “But I’m not in your shoes, I’m in these, looking at you. An’ you make me sick, right?”


Linda – “An’ what about what I need? I need you.”


Narrator – “No you know the devil’s got your number. He’s gonna find y’.”


Section Two

These questions tend to be about set/stage design. You will be expected to select an

appropriate set design for Blood Brothers and clearly justify your choice.

You need to be looking for the following:

Two sides to show the class divide

A naturalistic set

Proscenium Arch (this was how Willy Russell intended the stage to be)

Provide examples from the play for how you could use the set

You could say things like this …

“The two sides will clearly highlight the social class divide between the characters of Mickey and

Eddie throughout the play”

“The play is meant to be performed with the audience end on – a Proscenium Arch so the audience can

connect to the realistic acting and emotions. This was also the way Willy Russell intended the staging

to be used.”

“The set is naturalistic which will suit the overall style of Blood Brothers.”

“The higher level and window could be used to mark the importance of the character of the narrator

when he sings “ ’shoes upon the table’ .”

“The bench could be used when the boys’ meet for the first time to show the setting that they are

outside.”

Add any other key lines from the play that you can think of from watching on YouTube:

“The alcoves for the narrator could be used as he is a character that remains constantly on stage; in

the shadows”

“There is space for an orchestra in this design which would be effective as Blood Brothers is a

musical with live signing and music throughout.”

DO NOT select any of the following staging for this section. These are NOT suitable for Blood

Brothers.

Theatre in the Round Traverse (catwalk) Thrust

Justify why this would be suitable for a production of the performance text you have

studied.

Section Three This section tends to be about characterisation. You will be expected to provide examples of

how a character from Blood Brothers could use their vocal or physical skills to portray their

character. You should be able to justify your choices with examples from the play.

Vocal Skills Physical Skills

Pitch Body language

Tone Gesture / action

Pause Movement

Clarity Facial expression

Rhythm, pace & tempo Rhythm, pace & tempo

Accent Proxemics Mrs Johnstone

Physical skills Justification

Fast paced walking Mrs Johnstone is always busy, rushing around trying

to look after all of her children and earn money

through several jobs.

Movement skills Justification

Mrs Lyons




Pitch Body language


Pause Movement



Accent Proxemics

Mickey



Edward




Pitch Body language


Pause Movement



Accent Proxemics

Narrator



Linda



Section Four This tends to be about semiotics. It focuses on the communication of meaning to support

the actors conveying their role to the audience. ONE of the following could come up in this

question:

Stage directions

Lighting

Sound

How can stage directions be used to support the actors in communicating their role to an

audience?

Stage directions Explanation – how the actors

can use them.

What does this tell the

audience? What impact does

this have on them?

Bored and petulant, Mickey sits

and shoots and imaginary

Sammy. Edward also aged seven

appears. He is bright and

forthcoming.

On a punctuated note Mrs

Lyons lunges again but Mrs

Johnstone manages to get hold

of her wrist, rendering the

knife hand helpless.

He ignores the bag and begins

looking through the cupboard

drawer.

She pushes money into Mrs

Johnstone’s hands.

How can lighting be used to support the actors in communicating their role to an audience?

Key scene and lighting point Explanation – how can this

support the actor?



this have on them?

Opening / ending

Mrs Lyons and Mrs Johnstone

making the pact

Sammy and Mickey’s crime

Lighting key words

Backlight Light coming from upstage, behind scenery or

the actors. This is used to sculpt and separate

them from the background.

Blackout The act of turning off (or fading out) stage

lighting.

Cross fade Bringing another lighting state up to completely

replace the current lighting state.

Fade An increase, decrease or change in the lighting

level.

Follow spot A light beam that follows the actor around the

stage

Spotlight A stationary light which focuses on the actor.

How can sound be used to support the actors in communicating their role to an audience?

Sound point Explanation – how can this

support the actor?



this have on them?

Gun shot when Mickey shoots

Edward

It helps to bring to life the

reality of the situation, and the

fact that both brothers are

now dead.

The gun shot will shock the

audience and symbolise that a

real gun has now been used by

the boys, after playing with

them for years as children.

Live music, recorded music, sound effects, silence

Section Five

This tends to be a section about theatre spaces. You will be expected to know the different

theatre spaces. You will be asked to compare the advantages and disadvantages when

presenting Blood Brothers in a specific theatre space. Your answers must specifically link to

Blood Brothers.

Staging type Advantages Disadvantages Key Words

Proscenium Arch

Can split the stage into two,

and therefore show both

sides of the social class.

Theatre in the Round

Characters with backs to

the audience.

Traverse

Can split the stage into two,

and therefore show both

sides of the social class.

Thrust

Section Six

This tends to be a section about directing. You could be asked about how a director could

stage a particular scene to engage the audience. You can comment on both performance and

design choices.

The opening scene

Point Evidence Explanation – why? Impact on audience

The final scene


Key Scene 1 -


Mrs Lyons makes Mrs

Johnstone swear on

the bible.

Key Scene 2 -


Mrs Lyons tries to

stab Mrs Johnstone

with a knife.

Section Seven

This tends to be a section about costume. You will be expected to describe a costume choice

for a specific character and justify why your choices are appropriate. You may include a

sketch with annotations however there are no additional marks for beautiful designs – it is all

about content and justification!

We would like you to sketch a costume for all the key characters, who have been mentioned

at the start of this work pack.

Mrs Johnstone

Item Description Justification

Mrs Lyons

Mickey



Edward

Linda



Section Eight

This tends to be a section about the social and/or historical context – you can find this

information at the start of this pack. You are expected to explain how the social and/or

historical context can be seen using specific examples from the play.

Point – response to question Evidence – key scene Explain/justify/discuss/compare

Social divide and social

injustice

Mickey and Eddie are caught

by the police officer and taken

home.

How the police man

responds to Mr Lyons

Consequence to dock his

pocket money – due to

social status

How police man responds

to Mrs Johnstone

Threatens court actions

Injustice of response due

to class divide

Nature vs Nurture

Mickey and Eddie meet up

after years apart

Different opportunities

that boys have been given

Eddies’ success

Mickey working in a

factory

Difference in how their

friends are presented

and why

Both characters envy

each other’s lives

This was common at the

time as rich got rich and

the poor got poorer under

the conservative

government.

To gain top marks in this question, you must also provide another scene that evidences the

same point.

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