Blood Brothers :: Drama

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.