Analyse the Role of Key Characters in 'Blood Brothers'.

What techniques does Russell use to present his key characters in 'Blood Brothers'?

The main characters we meet in the musical are: 

Mrs Johnstone - The mother of the twins

Mrs Lyons - Persuades Mrs Johnstone to give her one of her twins

Mr Lyons - married to Mrs Lyons and is unaware that Edward is not really his child

Mickey - grows up with his real mother Mrs Johnstone and the rest of his family

Edward - was given away as a baby to Mrs Lyons

Linda - close friends with Mickey and Edward

Sammy - Mickey's older brother

The narrator - sometimes plays other roles such as the milkman and teacher and sometimes is a mysterious character who comments on the action in the musical

In the Literature exam, you may be asked to write about how a particular character is presented in 'Blood Brothers'.

To achieve a higher mark in the exam, you need to show that you are analysing a character.

To do this you must:

- pick out some of the language/structure/dramatic devices used to present the character. 

- consider how the character reflects something about the context in which Russell was writing and in which the musical is set.

In this activity, we will practise analysing the characters in 'Blood Brothers' in this way.

You should always refer to your own text when working through these examples.  These quotations are for reference only.