Blood Brothers Context
Written in 1983
Set between 1950’s and 1970’s
Marylin Monroe
American actress
Sex symbol
Overdosed
Tragic victim
Abused – sexually and emotionally
Icon – beautiful women, but was used and abused because of this – audience of blood
brothers can she that she is portrayed
Superstition
Links to religion – more religious the more superstitious – the devil ‘he’s knocking on your
door’ ‘Devil’s got your number’
Shoes on the table is bad luck, saluting magpie’s gets rid of bad luck, twins separated etc
Links with paranoia and mental health as checking over superstitious can become a ritual
and something that stays in the back of the mind
People were quite superstitious at this point in time as government interruption became a
worry and paranoia as people thought they were being watched/listened to by them.
Links w/ Mrs Lyons descent into paranoia throughout the play as she is very aware of safety
and Mrs Johnstone’s whereabouts and the twins separated superstition that she made up
Pop Culture
The Beatles were big when Blood Brothers was set
‘Rock and roll’ started to have a full impact on Britain now, impacting music forever
Teenagers now had more freedom as their parents had all been through the war so wanted
them to enjoy their youth. Teenagers were extremely different in the 60’s compared to the
ones in the 40-50’s
Drug use became more common and festivals were the main place for them, although
people were taking them everywhere
Hippie movement occurred – began to challenge and question authority which was
completely unheard of a decade before
Teenagers had more money than ever so could afford music, new clothes, and to go out,
taking advantage of this freedom from their parents. Often go dancing (Mrs Johnstone’s
obsession throughout the play w/ dancing)
Willy Russell
Born in Liverpool in 1947 – Blood Brothers is set in Liverpool
Became a hairdresser when he left school, and then went through a variety of jobs, including
writing songs
He went to university in Liverpool as well, situated quite a bit around the Liverpool area
(Lives and works there)
Wrote quite a few award-winning plays
Written in 1983
Set between 1950’s and 1970’s
Marylin Monroe
American actress
Sex symbol
Overdosed
Tragic victim
Abused – sexually and emotionally
Icon – beautiful women, but was used and abused because of this – audience of blood
brothers can she that she is portrayed
Superstition
Links to religion – more religious the more superstitious – the devil ‘he’s knocking on your
door’ ‘Devil’s got your number’
Shoes on the table is bad luck, saluting magpie’s gets rid of bad luck, twins separated etc
Links with paranoia and mental health as checking over superstitious can become a ritual
and something that stays in the back of the mind
People were quite superstitious at this point in time as government interruption became a
worry and paranoia as people thought they were being watched/listened to by them.
Links w/ Mrs Lyons descent into paranoia throughout the play as she is very aware of safety
and Mrs Johnstone’s whereabouts and the twins separated superstition that she made up
Pop Culture
The Beatles were big when Blood Brothers was set
‘Rock and roll’ started to have a full impact on Britain now, impacting music forever
Teenagers now had more freedom as their parents had all been through the war so wanted
them to enjoy their youth. Teenagers were extremely different in the 60’s compared to the
ones in the 40-50’s
Drug use became more common and festivals were the main place for them, although
people were taking them everywhere
Hippie movement occurred – began to challenge and question authority which was
completely unheard of a decade before
Teenagers had more money than ever so could afford music, new clothes, and to go out,
taking advantage of this freedom from their parents. Often go dancing (Mrs Johnstone’s
obsession throughout the play w/ dancing)
Willy Russell
Born in Liverpool in 1947 – Blood Brothers is set in Liverpool
Became a hairdresser when he left school, and then went through a variety of jobs, including
writing songs
He went to university in Liverpool as well, situated quite a bit around the Liverpool area
(Lives and works there)
Wrote quite a few award-winning plays
