Willy Russell portray serious issues Essay Example for Free

Willy Russell portray serious issues Essay He uses Standard English, but with a regional accent. So he fits into the social context of the play. His vocabulary is direct; this symbolises a direct message. His voice is also assertive but he doesnt show any emotion, which shows hes detached from whats going on. Hes dramatically effective because he is entwined in speech and action. The speech sequences between Linda and Mickey are interrupted by the narrator, which shows a dramatic presence. He comes at unexpected and dramatic times, which is engaging for the audience. The director also says shoes upon the table and gypsies in the wood this symbolises a warning and verbally foreshadows the rest of the play. The issue of superstition is portrayed in an entertaining way because the narrator is saying in between speeches. He is slightly menacing; this creates shock to the audience, which engages them. You could say that the narrator is seen like the devil. Comic devices are also used when there were adults dresses as children and they behave in an immature manner. The milkman being the gynaecologist also adds to the humour, from the quote actually Ive given up the milk round and gone into medicine. Im your gynaecologist. From this the audience would subconsciously see the issues in an entertaining way. The humorous language from quotes previously also build up the entertainment and adds to the comic devices they go together well in tandem. Mickey and Linda growing up has a humorous side to it because they deal with small problems, which are humorous. Mickey says I dont wanna die and Linda says But you have to Mickey. Everyone does. Like your twinny died. Mickey here is frightened that Sammy might kill him with a fake air pistol, but Linda calms Mickey down. But as they grow up we see a serious issue of it, like their baby, finances and trying to find a house. A lot of stress comes to Mickey and he says Now give me the tablets I need them, so I can be invisible from that we can see Mickey needs tablets because of the stress, but the last part makes it entertaining, its a sort of joke. There was also light romance between Mickey and Linda, she kept saying I love you Mickey, which was entertaining as Linda had said she loved him when they were children; the romance makes those serious issues between them seem entertaining. The music devices that Willey Russell used also make it entertaining and helps bring the characters to life on stage, the serious issues such as single parents and social class suddenly become entertaining because of these melodies. Willy Russell used music devices effectively to end Act 1 on a positive note. A quote to show this was, Were getting out. Were moving house, Were going away. Getting out today. Were moving movin movin house. The Johnstone had a lot of troubles up to that point, but they were finally moving to the countryside. The positive text and music contributes to the happy atmosphere, the chorus, Oh bright new day, were moving away, were startin all over again. Oh, bright new day, were going away, Where nobodys heard of our name, emphasises the importance of it and shows her happiness. The melody is an upbeat tune, the lyrics say that Oh bright new day, the constant repetition again emphasises the fact that the atmosphere is happy, so the issue of poverty and single parents are subconsciously portrayed in an entertaining way because of the music, melodies and positive text. The happy atmosphere also subconsciously makes the audience generate their expectations, that the next acts would be happy. Different types of songs are used to represent different parts of the play; there were ballads, Tell me its not true, say its just a story, something on the news, Tell me its not true, say its just a dream, for sad parts and lively songs, (from the previous quotes) for light-hearted aspects. The engaging songs and lyrics add to the drama because it is constantly enveloping with serious issues, which is entertaining, hence engaging for the audience. The themes of dancing, like, Oh we went dancing Edward, it was great and waltzing occurs throughout the play to go in tandem with the lively songs to add to the happy atmosphere again to portray the serious issues in an entertaining way. The end of the play deals with a lot of other serious issues in an entertaining approach. There is a lot of action and Mickey going crazy at the end, which is entertaining, this goes in tandem with the murders to portray it in an entertain way. The tension when Mickey was holding the gun also creates suspense for the audience and really engages them. The audience would subconsciously start the denotation to connotation process, as the gun connotes death and violence. Their expectations for the end of the play would be generated. The main issue of murder in the closing scene would be portrayed entertainingly because it was ironic that two twin brothers that were separated at birth eventually die on the same day. The author makes Mickey say You! Why didnt you give me away! I could have been. I could have been him! This shows that Mickey knows he could have been better off if he was in the higher-class family. Subsequently it shows that the Willy Russell thinks that it is class that caused the murder. The authors attitudes towards class are also revealed and justified in the narrators last speech. He trys to persuade the audience into thinking it was class because he stretches the last sentence Or could it be what we, the English come to know it as class? . He ends with a strong rhetorical question talking about class. This rhetorical question is cleverly used because it subconsciously makes us linger on the topic of class, and even be persuaded to think it was class that caused the murders. This reflects the attitudes of the author; he thinks that it was the different social classes mixing that caused the murders. His attitudes to social classes were high. He was concerned, that if people with a different social classes mix then it would spell trouble. In the play of Blood Brothers Willy Russell deals with a lot of serious issues in an entertaining way, this really engages the audience. He virtually engulfs all the serious issues with the entertainment and happy atmosphere, to portray them as entertaining. Our minds subconsciously think about the entertaining side of the issue rather than the serious side. The issues also add to the development of the play, poverty led to social class which eventually led to murder. However he trys to portray the issues in an entertaining way to engage the audience; it makes us feel and think about different aspects of the issues. Take social class for example, Mickey was brought up in a lower class family but probably had more enjoyment in his childhood than Edward. But Edward was not allowed much because of his parents. However when Mickey grew up he didnt have a good education and wasnt taught properly by his mother what was to do and not to do in life. These are different aspects of that issue, which were cleverly shown in an entertaining way by Willy Russell.