Blood Brothers

"A new Student Edition of Willy Russell's enduring 1983 play offering accessible and vivid insights through a C21st lens. The commentary conveys how groundbreaking the play was at the time in representing working-class lives on stage, as well as explicitly critiquing the British class system. Alongside delving into the themes, dramatic devices, context and characters of the play, students are encouraged to consider what it must have been like to be at the very first performance; draw comparisons between life then and now; and develop their own creative projects based on the story"--

Chronology

Commentary

Socio-political landscape: Britain under Margaret Thatcher
Themes: class and identity, family, nature v nurture, superstition v materialism, economic hardship (including strikes, debt, unemployment, cuts to the arts), fate
Characters: Mrs Johnston, Eddie, Mickey, Linda, Mrs Lyons
Dramatic devices: twins as framing device, monologue, the play as musical & rise of the mega-musical
Design: lighting, sounds, costume, set, props
Similar works (kitchen sink drama, working-class originated theatre& TV)
Willy Russell: other works
Production history, including first performance of the play in a classroom and Blood Brothers productions across the world (eg. South African production, 2013)

PLAYTEXT

Notes to the play