The use of costumes in the play greatly emphasized the age difference between the scenes. In the first scene Linda is portrayed as young and so even though she acted like a boy the actress still dressed as a girl, in bright frocks. In this the director tries to show she does not really care what she looks like, this is taken further by the fact she has dirt marks on her face, in an effort to get accepted by the lads. In the second scene the actress is playing a teenager, she has become more aware of her body and tries to flaunt it. She wears a ridiculously small skirt in an attempt to catch Mickey’s attention, who she is portrayed as lusting after. After this scene when Mickey and Linda are married she wears sensible plain clothes. She does not wear the bright colours she wore in her childhood or the cool colours of her teenage life. She wears dull colours; I feel the director does this to show that after marriage she has to put aside her dreams
The contrast in clothing between Mickey and Edward is another way the difference in class is shown. Mickey as a child wears hand me downs from his older brothers whereas Edward dresses smartly, this carries on throughout the play. Edward is always shown dressed more smartly then Mickey. This emphasizes the class difference because it follows the stereotypical view that the rich are always dressed smartly and the poorer people in society such as Mickey’s family are dressed in little better than rags, which is al they are supposedly meant to be able to afford.
However, even though Mrs Lyons is richer she is shown as dressed less fashionably then Mrs Johnstone who is portrayed as the poorer of the two. It is my belief that the issue of class is influenced by Willy Russell’s own childhood. In his childhood, as he was working class he never had as many opportunities for success as the upper class. I think he tries to show this in the play through the characters Mickey and Edward, one belonging to a working class family and the other to an upper class family.
Voice The voice’s of the characters change quite significantly during the course of the play. In the beginning the children have quite high voices but through the play the boys’ voices become deeper showing progression through puberty and maturity. As kids you can tell from there voices that they are always happy were as, as the kids get older and start facing the problems of life they show there sadness in there voice. Edward’s family, as they were shown as posh, spoke in the queens English with a posh accent whereas Mickey’s family talked mostly in slang with a strong liverpudlian accent.
Music The music mostly followed the mood of the main characters. If they were happy it was upbeat but when they were sad the music was slow. An example of this is in the end when Mickey and Edward die. The music accompanying Mrs Jhonstone’s song is quite slow as if it is mimicking her mood and reflecting the pain she is feeling from loosing her kids. Acting I feel the acting was done quite well. When playing the kids the actors showed Mickey and the others full of life. They were constantly moving and never still showing the energy all children posses. However as the children grew older the actors showed them moving with a purpose and with less energy. After coming back from prison Mickey is show with a sense of tiredness around him. I feel the director does this to emphasize the point that going to prison took everything out of Mickey and he is now forever depressed.
Technique One aspect of the play liked was the good use of crosscutting, having the scene in which Mickey and Edward are lying dead on the floor, in the beginning immediately raises the questions: Who are they? Why are they dead? Who are the people around them? Etc. I feel this captivates the audience, draws them in and creates a sense of mystery about the play because the audience wants to know what leads to that scene taking place. Light In the beginning the stage is flooded with darkness and then when the red spotlight hits the bodies of Edward and Mickey it draws the attention of the audience.
