1. (including dramatic terminology)
Act
Plot
One
The play begins with the deaths of two men. The narrator tells us that they were twins, but were separated and never knew that they shared the same surname: Johnstone.
Mrs Johnstone finds out that she is expecting twins. This will mean that she will struggle to survive financially. She tells Mrs Lyons, who offers to bring up one of the twins as her own child, saying that she can give him a good home. Mrs Johnstone, in awe of the Lyons’ wealth and the possibility of a comfortable upbringing for at least one of her children, eventually agrees. They make a vow of silence and swear over the Bible. Not even Mr Lyons will know.
Mrs Johnstone gives birth to the twins. Mrs Lyons arrives and, after reminding Mrs Johnstone of their pact, takes one of the twins.
Mrs Johnstone still works at Mrs Lyons’ house, but Mrs Lyons feels uncomfortable, thinking that Mrs Johnstone is becoming too attached to the twin she has given away. Mrs Lyons tries to pay Mrs Johnstone to leave. Mrs Johnstone threatens to tell the police about the baby, but Mrs Lyons terrifies her with a superstitious omen: she claims that if either twin learns of his brother, both will die. Mrs Johnstone leaves and stops working at the Lyon’s house.
Seven years pass before Mickey and Edward meet and become friends, without knowing they’re brothers. They learn that their birthdays are identical and decide to become ‘blood brothers’. Their mothers soon realise and tell them not to hang around with each other.
Two
The story jumps forward another seven years. By coincidence both families moved to the same area, and the twins live near to each other, although they do not know this.
Mrs Johnstone has settled happily into her new home. Mickey is now an awkward fourteen-year-old at the local comprehensive school. Meanwhile Edward is at an all-boys private boarding school.
Mickey and his friend Linda grow closer. Mickey and Edward accidentally meet each other one day.
Mrs Lyons turns up in Mrs Johnstone’s kitchen. She wants to know why Mrs Johnstone has decided to ‘follow’ her. She offers a large sum of money to bribe Mrs Johnstone to move away, but Mrs Johnstone rejects this, saying that she has made a better life for herself in her new home. Dramatically paralleling Sammy’s violence with a knife, Mrs Lyons grabs a kitchen knife and tries to stab Mrs Johnstone, but Mrs Johnstone dodges it. Mrs Lyons exits cursing.
We fast forward and see Mickey, Edward and Linda become close friends as they grow up year by year – the narrator tells us that they are now eighteen.
Edward and Linda meet. He tells her he is sad as he is leaving for university the next day and wonders if he can write her letters, despite Mickey being in love with her. Linda reveals that Mickey still hasn’t asked her to be a proper girlfriend. Edward sings lovingly that if he were Mickey he would have asked a long time ago.
Mickey arrives and Edward urges him to declare his love for Linda.
Character
Mrs Johnstone
Mother of Mickey and Edward (unknown to Edward). Living in the poor area of Liverpool, she struggles to feed and support her children, but is kind and loving. She struggles to control them.
Mrs Lyons
Mother of Edward (adopted). Mrs Lyons is wealthy but unable to have children. She appears as quite cold and finds it difficult to be affectionate towards others. She is an overprotective mother.
Mickey
An excitable and outgoing young boy at the beginning of the play. He is shy with his emotions. His lack of education means he gets caught up in bad behaviour sometimes.
Edward
Edward is friendly and caring, but sometimes naïve. He is raised in a wealthy environment. At times he comes across as slightly condescending and lacks compassion.
Linda
Best-friend/girlfriend/wife of Mickey. Outgoing and caring. Raised with the same sort of background as Mickey.
Sammy
Mickey’s brother. Can be hostile, and engages in anti-social and criminal activities.
Mr Lyons
Adoptive father of Edward. Seems often indifferent to the effect his choices make. He is a wealthy businessman.
Narrator
His role is to explain some of the key action on stage. The narrator also involves the audience by asking them directly to judge what they see. He presents the themes of fate, destiny and superstition throughout the play. The narrator, untraditionally, appears as other characters throughout the play to help emphasise certain themes.
Vocabulary
(including dramatic terminology)
Contextual
Interpret
Dramatic
Commentary
Dialogue
Emphasis
Interplay
Monologue
Prologue
Narrative
Prejudice
Juvenile
Deviant
Shrewd
Credulous
Taboo
Optimistic
Pessimistic
Impressionable
Astute
Impertinent
Adolescent
Poverty
Context
Willy Russell - was born in 1947 into a working-class family near to Liverpool. He left school at 15 without academic qualifications and became a hairdresser. By the age of 20 he felt the need to return to education and, after leaving university, he became a teacher at a comprehensive school in his home city.
Social Context – Blood Brothers was completed in 1981, two years after Conservative Party Leader, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. She felt that the country’s manufacturing industry had become uncompetitive and thought that weak employers and overly strong trade unions were to blame. She reduced the power of the unions, privatized companies and closed down uncompetitive coal mines.
Liverpool – The areas most affected by the closures were industrialised working-class areas in the north of the country and Willy Russell would have seen this first hand in his home city. Liverpool’s famous docks, a traditional source of local employment, were allowed to run down and thousands of households fell into poverty; crime levels increased; housing was allowed to deteriorate and illegal drug use became more common. Some of this context is directly reflected in the play, for example, Russell shows the terrible effects of unemployment on Micky's self-esteem.
Education - Although the 1945 Education act had made grammar schools free, working class children had to pass the 11+ to gain entry to the grammar schools. The pass mark was kept deliberately high. Few children were allowed the privilege of a grammar school education, and even if they gained a place, there was no guarantee that they would leave with qualifications, as the school leaving age was 15.
Themes
Education
Power and control
Nature vs. Nurture
Social class
Superstition
Destiny / fate