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The Willy Russell Page
This page is a part of the Blood Brothers |
This page contains info about the Author of Blood Brothers, Willy Russell, Right now, there are two biographies, if you know any other, send them to d97-ask@nada.kth.se. These biographies are taken from various sites on the net, with a direct link to them. The reason I've put them on my own page is that I want it to remain readable, even if the sites that originally ownes them closes.
//Andreas
It was whilst at St. Catherine's College of Education that he
decided to become a dramatist. His first play, KEEP YOUR EYES DOWN, was taken by the
college drama group to the Edinburgh Fringe in 1972. There it was seen by John McGrath
who put Russell in touch with the Everyman. The following year, WHEN THE REDS.. led to his
writing a play for the Everyman's Touring Company, SAM O' SHANKER. 1973 also saw his first
play for BBC TV, KING OF THE CASTLE, set in a factory.
His 'major break' came with his next play,
JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE, RINGO AND BERT. It was an
accurate and honest account of the group's rise and fall, culminating in an abortive attempt
to stage a reunion concert and its success enabled him to give up teaching and concentrate on
writing full-time. The show was notable for the ironic juxtaposition of songs against dialogue,
and the sparkling Liverpool humour that has since become his trademark. The use of a narrator was
a technique that was to reappear in his next stage play, DEATH OF A YOUNG, YOUNG MAN (1975), and
again in BLOOD BROTHERS.
Russell has strong views on the working classes' attempts to
gain access to middle-class culture. "Whilst the working-classes are accused of being
philistines, there is a general attempt in this country to withhold culture from them...
Literature is an invention by the middle-classes for their own benefit. The working-classes
haven't accepted literacy yet, which is why it is so difficult teaching working-class kids
whose traditions are in the spoken word. That's why I write for the theatre, because it's
concerned with the spoken rather than the written word."
There is a compassionate
core in Russell's work that can best be seen in his endearing and sympathetic presentation of
life's losers, all of whom have an epic sense of their own importance. Through his writing it
is possible to feel a sense of his characters' aspirations and their failed and foiled dreams.
However, unlike the characters he creates, Willy Russell doesn't have an epic sense of his
own importance. What sustains and characterises his best work is a raging, bitter sense of
injustice.
Willy Russell
Willy Russell was born in 1947 at Shiston near Liverpool.
There was a strong tradition of storytelling in his family, who were 'thinking' working class.
His school career in the 'D Stream' was undistinguished. At fifteen he left with one 'O' Level,
in English Language, with little idea of what he wanted to do beyond a vague notion of wanting
to become a writer. He was unsure of how to enter that world, so he drifted into hairdressing.
Subsequently he spent more time writing songs than setting hair. Eventually he left and worked
in several industrial jobs before deciding to return to full-time education.
This text is taken from
English Theater (virtual city)
Willy Russell
Shirley Valentine had a lengthy run both in the West End and on Broadway, where Pauline Collins won critical acclaim (& both the SWET & TONY Awards as best Actress).
This text is taken from:
www.danbury.org
This is a page by Andreas Skoog <d97-ask@nada.kth.se>
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