Critical evaluation - blood brothers Essay Example for Free

Critical evaluation blood brothers Essay The play did not open with the curtain going up but instead with the lights going up. My seat was in the gallery, which is quite high up, but after I got over the sense of vertigo my view of the play was fine. I could not see the gantry at the back of the stage or the very front of the stage, but very little of the action took place in these areas. The play was written in the early 1960s by the Liverpudlian playwright Willy Russell and was first performed in the early 1980s. The play is a slice of life, or an impression of life starting in Liverpool in the early 1960s through until the 1980s, of poor working class families. The play combines music and song with narrative. The set of Blood Brothers consisted of, on either side of the stage a row of terraced house fronts. At the back of the stage there was a gantry which was used by the narrator and once by Mrs. Johnston when she sang a song that was an overview of the action that had just taken place, there was a countryside backcloth with two moveable brick wall flats which moved across to cover this. The set was very appropriate for the play, it combined well with the slice of life. The props were minimalist and brought on stage by the actors. There were four moveable flats, two that slid across the floor and two that came down from the ceiling. All the costumes and fixings were appropriate for the era of the play, they worked well together producing a realistic setting. The play opens with the twin brothers, lying down on stretchers and then being carried away. The narrator then informs the audience of the events that have just happened and then the play begins. The play is about Mrs. Johnston, a working class mother of seven children who after her husband has left her for a younger woman discovers she is pregnant with twins. Mrs. Johnston is a cleaner who works for a middle class couple, Mr. and Mrs. Lyons. Mrs. Johnston tells Mrs. Lyons of her predicament and so Mrs. Lyons who can not have children of her own and whose husband has gone away on business for six months offers to take one of the twins for herself and bring him up as her own. After some persuasion Mrs. Johnston gives one of the boys to Mrs. Lyons. She finds it difficult to keep Mrs. Johnston on as her cleaner because she can see that there is a bond between mother and child and so fires her. Several years pass, the boys are now seven, nearly eight, they meet when out playing, become great friends and Blood Brothers. Both Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. Lyons try to keep the boys apart but are unable to do so. In a desperate attempt to separate the boys the Lyons move to a house in the country well away from Mickey and the estate where the Johnstons live. A few years later the council decide to demolish the estate where the Johnstons live and relocate the families to the countryside close to where the Lyons now live. Mickey has a girlfriend, Linda, a girl he has known since childhood. One day when they are out walking they come across Eddie, (Mickeys twin), and rekindle their friendship. The twins are now sixteen years old and their friendship continues to grow until it is time for Eddie to gone away to university. However Eddie declares his love for Linda before leaving but she continues her relationship with Mickey and soon falls pregnant with his child and so they marry and move into Mickeys home. Mickeys older brother, Sammy, gets into trouble and Mickey agrees to help him out but instead ends up taking the fall for Sammy killing a man and goes to prison for seven years. During this time he becomes depressed and withdrawn from Linda. She turns to Eddie for support and they soon become emotionally attached. When Eddies mother becomes aware of the romance she tells Mickey who, now out of prison, goes to Eddies work place. Mrs. Johnston now feels she must tell the boys that they are brothers but this is too much for Mickey to understand in his present mental state, distressed and confused he shoots Eddie. Just as Mickey is doing this a policeman takes aim and fires killing Mickey. Both men are dead. On the whole the script and the play were very good. At first it took a little time to get in to the play but it soon flowed naturally. The play held the audiences interest by the use of the narrator who appeared on the stage behind the action and would burst into song. A lot of information was given on the characters through the use of song, so the audience received much of the necessary information without realising it. The part of Mrs. Johnston was played by the singer and actress Dennis Nolan. Ms. Nolan described the history of her character through the song Just like Marilyn Monroe. Her story is not extraordinary or uncommon. A girl from a Roman Catholic working class family who falls in love with a young man who takes her dancing and says she looks a lot like Marilyn Monroe. Romance soon fades once the babies start arriving. Possibly because of her faith, which would have instilled a belief that children are a blessing, she soon has a large family and her husband begins to look elsewhere for what he first found attractive in his wife. He begins to go dancing with a girl who he says looks a lot like Marilyn Monroe. When he leaves home Mrs. Johnston discovers she is pregnant with the twins of the story. This is when the events that lead up to the final tragedy really begin. Mickey is the twin that Mrs. Johnston kept. He grows up in this very poor working class family but as a child is mainly happy and full of mischief. He does not expect an easy life and accepts who he is and what his future will be. He does not expect to go to university like his friend Eddie because in his mind and at this time it was usually only children from better off families who went. Mickey would have been happy to work and bring up his children in a working class family. It is unemployment and bad choices that take away his pride and his future. He becomes very depressed, feels worthless and finally sees his marriage fall apart. The actor who played Mickey had to act the part of a child through to an adult, his mannerisms were very good and his gestures appropriate for the different ages. When he was seven Mickey acted and moved as if he was seven and when he was twenty he acted and moved like a twenty year old. His voice changed as well, it moved from a high quick voice to a deeper more solemn one. Linda is the childhood friend of Mrs. Johnstons children and especially of Mickey. The two children grow up together, play together and become girl and boyfriend. This relationship is threatened by Lindas attraction to Eddie, Mickeys twin, but although she realises that it is Eddie that she loves she does not end her relationship with Mickey. When Eddie goes away to university she becomes pregnant with Mickeys child and marries him. Lindas role in the play is huge, it is her relationship with Eddie which finally destroys Mickey and leads to the final tragedy. The play contained quite a lot of swearing but this was only used to aid the script and made it more realistic. At the end of the play many people in the audience were in tears which showed how good the performances had been. As a straight play this would have been a very sad story of some very hard lives but because the story is told partly in song the mood is much lighter. It shows that there can be laughter in even the most difficult of lives, but also how our own upbringing, superstitions and prejudices can make our lives more complicated and more difficult.

Trojan War Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the book The Trojan War, by Bernard Evslin, Ulysses and Agamemnon both contribute to the Greek’s victory. Many considered Ulysses to be the real brains behind the Greek forces. Although Agamemnon was the leader of the Greeks, many would say he was not a good one. Even though Agamemnon did some good deeds during the war, many of his actions caused problems, and Ulysses often had to come to his rescue.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With Ulysses on the Greeks side they had amazing intelligence and bravery. Many great things happened because of Ulysses leadership. One example is when Ulysses dressed as a peddler, found where Achilles was hiding, and brought him back to fight in the war. Ulysses knew he had to find Achilles because the prophecies told the Greeks they couldn’t win the war without him. Secondly, Ulysses convinced the Greek forces to return and fight after Agamemnon almost lost them. He yelled to the troops â€Å"Stop! Agamemnon means battle and not retreat, you misunderstood his words† (p. 42). Lastly, Ulysses showed great smartness when he solved the riddle about the Trojan War. By him solving the riddle, the Greeks came to win the long war. Ulysses was also smart enough to think of hollowing out the horse so the Greeks could hide inside them and attack the Trojans while they were sleeping. He showed intelligence too when he pretended the horse was a sacrifice to the god Poseidon. The war may not have turned out the same if the Greeks ...

Theory

Very much like the author of a book is given credit as its sole creator, auteur theory gives the film director credit for authoring the film, â€Å"imprinting it with his personal vision†(goodnight, 2011,sec. 7. 3,Para. 1). While auteur theory is a good starting point for film analysis, it places almost total responsibility for a film's artistic success or failure on the director. The problem is that not all film critics agree on the same definition of what is considered art. According to Andrew Saris, to be considered an auteur, a film director must qualify in three key areas: 1.Technical competence 2. Distinguishable personality and 3. Interior meaning A positive aspect about auteur theory is that directors can really make a name for themselves and become even more famous than their â€Å"Star actors†. While each of a director's films are unique in their own way, there still remains a common and recognizable thread that runs through them collectively that says â€Å" this is a Spielberg film, or â€Å"This is a James Cameron film†. On the other side, some say that the auteur theory is too full of holes and is not a good way to determine whether a film is true art.Some directors intentionally step outside the set parameters of what is generally considered technical competence. Others insist that because film is a collaborative effort, it is not fair to esteem directors more highly than screenwriters and actors who play equally important roles in the production of a film. I would consider Clint Eastward an auteur. He began his career very young as an actor in esters movies. After 16 years of acting and learning he began directing films. Eastward became famous first as an actor in films such as â€Å"Dirty Harry'.Later on in his career, though he played significant roles in each of his films, he was more known for his directorship of films like â€Å"Grand Torsion† and â€Å"Million Dollar Baby'. According to Prep Hemmer, in these f ilms, â€Å"Eastward shows himself as an auteur through his constant use of Juxtaposing relationships between a younger and older generation, is consistency of a tragic event occurring, bringing his films to end in a violent or tragic manner, and his choice of acting in the majority of his films as he challenges the declining role of American men†(Hemmer,n. . ).

Robert Frost s Writing Style - 1589 Words

Robert Frost once said, â€Å"The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom... in a clarification of life - not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion† (Robert Frost Quotes). This same kind of thinking opened the door for metaphorical poetry that helped to show the poets transparency. His love for the social outcast and the struggles of his life are exhibited greatly in his poems. Robert Frost helped to create a new writing style through his many trials that not only affected the people of that time, but helped to inspire others to follow in his writing footsteps. Who would have thought that a four time Pulitzer Prize winner would have gone forty years an unknown (â€Å"Robert Frost†)? Robert Frost’s story begins on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California (â€Å"Robert Frost†). Robert Frost was born to William Frost and his Scottish mother, Isabelle Moody (â€Å"Robert Frost Poetry†). After eleven years of living there, Frost’s father passed away, causing him, his mother, and sister to move to Lawrence, Massachusetts. This is where he graduated in 1892 with his Co-Valedictorian and high school sweetheart, Elinor White (â€Å"Robert Frost†). Two years later, while attending Dartmouth University, Frost had his first work published, â€Å"My Butterfly: An Elegy† (â€Å"Robert Frost†). Following his first accomplishment, the next year Robert Frost married Elinor White and conceived their first child,Show MoreRelatedThe Unnatural Life of Robert Frost683 Words   |  3 PagesThe Unn atural Life of R. Frost. One of the most humble of men to be awarded a modest four Pulitzer prizes and casually accept a Congressional Gold Medal for his works, Robert Frost arguably carried a literary movement and immortalized himself in history. While viewed as a naturalist, Frost is noted for the New England regionalism that is prevalent in his works. 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