Blood Brothers: Writer's Methods & Techniques (AQA GCSE English Literature)

‘Methods’ is an umbrella term for anything the writer does on purpose to create meaning. Using the writer’s name in your response will help you to think about the text as a conscious construct and will keep reminding you that Russell purposely put the play together.

Dramatic Methods

There are a number of dramatic methods used in Blood Brothers:

• dramatic structure
• stagecraft
• dramatic speech and language

• Blood Brothers is a two-act musical, which means part of the narration is in the form of a song
  • At the end of Act I, Mrs Johnstone’s move is shown with a montage: minor characters celebrate the departure of the Johnstones, the children pack and Mrs Johnstone sings about her hopeful future
  • Mickey sings about his admiration for his troubled older brother in Act I
  • Edward and Mickey sing about their differences in Act II
  • Mrs Johnstone expresses her pressures as a mother through the song
  • He suggests the actions of the mother cannot be escaped: “The devil’s got your number/He’s right behind ya”
  • He asks audiences to question the idea of fate as events unfold
• In order to convey the passing of time, Russell employs musical montage scenes narrating events
• Some songs are used as soliloquies, providing insight into the characters’ feelings in order to engage audiences and convey Russell’s ideas
• The narrator reminds audiences, via song, about a superstition which led to the fateful deal to separate the twins
• The play is structured as a tragedy using certain conventions of classic Greek tragedy
  • The mothers act as the antagonists of the play
• The play opens with a warning from the narrator, acting as a chorus
• He tells audiences that the deaths of the twins is inevitable; they are fated to die
• A tragedy usually depicts the doomed journey of a tragic hero with a fatal flaw
• In this play, Mickey and Edward are both tragic heroes in that their misguided decisions lead to their deaths at the end of the play
• However, Russell shows how the actions of the mothers and of society play a role in the son’s doomed fate

• The play employs a cyclical structure by opening the play with the final scene
  • This structure may indicate the tragedy could happen again
  • It may suggest that society is doomed to repeat the same mistakes
• Mrs Johnstone sings, “Tell me it’s not true” as the play opens and closes
• This structure suggests the inevitability of the tragedy
• The play ends without resolution, suggesting the repetitive nature of the themes

Stagecraft

• Russell sets the houses of Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons apart in his stage directions
• The centre of the stage, between the houses, poses as the children’s play area, illustrating how the children are caught between the two worlds
• The houses are separated, yet close to each other, showing the proximity of rich and poor households in Liverpool
• Russell’s stage directions only show the interior of Mrs Lyons’s house, while Mrs Johnstone’s children are always at the front-door, outside the house or sent out to play in the street 
• Here, Russell illustrates different family experiences in each house: one family is safely protected from outside pressures, and the other is exposed to harsh realities
• Russell uses lighting and sound to show changing locations and depict passing time with pace
• Lighting changes, instead of complex scene shifts, are indicated in stage directions 
• This makes the play flow quickly, creating an energetic pace despite the play covering a twenty-year period
• The red light shown in the first and final scene represents violent bloodshed
• Brighter lighting is used to illustrate the hopeful move to the country
• Russell uses sound to depict events not occurring on stage, such as when a gun-shot is heard to symbolise the robbery Mickey is involved in 

• Russell uses motif throughout the play to symbolise ideas and convey themes
• The motif of Marilyn Monroe is threaded through the play to represent Mrs Johnstone’s grief and loss
• Marilyn Monroe, a glamorous young actress with a tragic story, symbolises Mrs Johnstone’s lost youth and freedom
• Russell separates the plot into two distinct acts to create juxtaposition and contrast
• Using juxtaposition highlights opposite ideas: by showing hope or joy next to despair or tragedy audiences link ideas and make connections
• Act I ends hopefully: the families start new lives in Skelmersdale and the brothers’ relationship is cemented
• This suggests the hope and innocence of their childhood
• In Act II Mickey’s fortune declines and his relationships with Eddie and Linda crumble 
• Here, as the twins reach adulthood, Russell shows the consequences of their different upbringings and societal pressures

Dramatic Irony

• Russell uses dramatic irony throughout the play to increase tension and emphasise key ideas
• Russell begins the play using dramatic irony so that audiences are immediately aware of the play’s outcome
• The narrator tells audiences that the play will end with the death of the separated sons and asks audiences to judge the mothers’ actions 
• This allows audiences the opportunity to challenge the role of fate and consequence in the tragedy
• Dramatic irony raises questions about innate nature, showing the twins inevitably connected
• The twins, unaware of their real relationship, become ‘blood brothers’ in a silly game
• They do not find out about their real relationship until the end, creating tension throughout the play

It is important to consider the ways in which Russell organises speech and language within the play. For example the use of narration, soliloquy and each character's specific use of language. 

Foreshadowing

• Russell uses foreshadowing in the first act of the play to warn audiences of the danger of the deal the mothers make, creating suspense:
• The prologue warns audiences of a tragic ending: a mother crying over her “sons lie slain”
• Mrs Johnstone foreshadows her own tragic fate singing, “Tell me it’s not true”
• Russell foreshadows inevitable conflict between the brothers as they fall in love with the same girl
• Eddie sings a soliloquy which tells audiences of his feelings for Linda, hinting at trouble to come: “Though I’m not saying a word? I would like you to know”
• When Eddie encourages Mickey to ask Linda out and helps him overcome his shyness, audiences are alerted to future barriers in their relationship

Dramatic Speech

• Russell utilises multi-roling, whereby one character takes on many roles to provide narration of key events and deliver dramatic warnings:
  • He delivers a prologue at the beginning, telling audiences of the outcome and asking them to judge the mothers
  • He delivers warnings via songs which highlight important themes, such as fate and class
  • Performing in minor roles, such as the milkman and the debt-collector, he speaks as the voice of the public, judging Mrs Johnstone negatively
• In Blood Brothers, the narrator takes on many roles; he represents society as a whole
• His role is similar to that of a chorus in Greek tragedy

Language

• Russell assigns specific accents and dialects to characters in order to represent class:
• Mrs Johnstone, Mickey, Sammy and Linda represent the sociolect of the working-class: they speak in a broad Liverpudlian accent with contractions, abbreviations and slang
• Mr and Mrs Lyons, the narrator, and Eddie speak in Received Pronunciation to represent the sociolect of the middle-class
• When Mickey and Eddie meet for the first time, they are amused by their different dialect: Mickey uses swear words and Eddie uses complex vocabulary
• Mickey calls Eddie a “poshy”, highlighting stereotypes associated with English accents and dialects in Britain and emphasising class differences
• Mrs Johnstone and Mickey’s speech is friendly, casual and humorous in order to engage audiences and encourage sympathy from them