In this coursework I will compare how different environments affect a Childs attitude. To do this, as a director I would want the two actors Mickey and Eddie to act completely different. As we read further into the scene and the boys begin to have a chat about the words they know, we begin to notice the difference in the two boys vocabulary. We learn that Mickey is cheeky and streetwise for instance the words he uses such as “Pissed off.” This shows the audience that Mickey has been brought up in an environment were this sort of language is commonly used. The actor who plays Mickey could make himself look tough and gain respect from his friend by using foul language and saying it in a bold way.
Were as the actor playing Eddie could act surprised and show admiration to Mickey because he knows these word, they are words Eddie has never heard of. The actors can continue Eddie’s naivety and Mickey’s through out the rest of the scene. An example of this is when the two boys are having a conversation about the “F” word. Eddie says he will look it up in the dictionary also Mickey shows ignorance when he calls a dictionary a “Thingy” because he doesn’t know what one is.
Through out the scene the two actors should show they are felling safer in each other’s company. This should replace the caution shown at the begging of the film. By the end of this scene they should have made the audience think they are best friends and have known each other for a long time. A very important part in the scene is when the two boys decide to become blood brothers. This would be very dramatic on stage and also very effective.
For the actor playing Mickey this part in the scene needs to be done properly he needs to take charge to do this he could stand in the centre of the stage and make the penknife in his hand stand out to the audience. Eddie on the other hand must look very nervous at this point because Mickey is preparing to cut his hand. The two lads should stand tall and be proud as they go through the ritual, their lies should be said slowly and very clearly they should also pause between each word for emphasis. Then to break the tension the mother can shout from the side of the stage.
If I were directing this scene my advice to the mother would be to be very loud and brassy but at the same time very defensive when she first meets Eddie. When Mickey tells his mum that he has a new friend she should be very curious and try to find out as much information as she can about him. She shows she is trying to do this when she says “what” … “Eddie, Eddie who?” She should use a threatening tone of voice. This would be used because she does not want Mickey to find out that he was separated from his twin brother when they were born. This is not because the she wants to threaten her son.
When she meets Eddie later on in the scene she should try to show her fear to the audience but try to keep the physical presence she has over the boys. She then attempts to scare Edie with “The bogeyman” she should try to install worry into his mind by saying it in an un-nerving way. But she fails to realise that a boy brought up as well as Eddie would not know who the bogeyman was, so therefore he would not fear him! She would need to convey all of her lines with a sense of pain, anger, and worry. She would feel pain due to the emotional stress of finally meeting her son again, anger because as much as she didn’t want it to happen the two boys have met each other and then feel worried because of her fear of the truth.
The final thing I will mention is that the way the characters speak will make a big difference in the play. The audience need them to speak in certain ways so that they can find out more about the characters. For example Mickey and his mum should talk with strong Liverpool accents, and to show they are loud people they should talk in a noisy way. The reason for this could be the large family and the lack of one to one attention form the mother.
This may also be because they all have to speak over each other to be heard in the house. Some of the words and phrases used should be emphasised because they reflect the scouse speech. Some examples of this are when Mickey says “us” instead of we this is an example of dialect and so does his phrases “are you soft”. The language Mickey uses also shows his lack of education for example he uses the word “thingy” because he does not know what a dictionary is also to gain respect he will use “bad language”. The word bleeding is used a lot by Mickey to express himself. The actor taking on Mickey’s roll should accentuate these words; this will help deliver some clues to his social background.
On the other hand the actor taking on the roll of Eddie would need to use very different words and also deliver them properly to show he has received a higher level of education and was brought up by a family he uses received pronunciation. So he should use words such as “Hello” and “Super” to provide the audience with a contrast of him and Mickey and his mother. He should also not show fear of the words such as “the bogeyman” and the “F” word because he does not know the meaning of them. If he repeats these words the actor playing him should do so without showing sense that he knows their meanings. If he does this he will give the audience an insight into his background and also add to the comedy evident in this scene.
