Willy Russell is a playwright and songwriter, and one of the most-produced writers of his time. His plays and musicals for stage and TV including John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert (1974), Breezeblock Park (1975), One for the Road (1976), Our Day Out (television 1977; stage musical version 1983), Stags and Hens (1978; filmed as Dancin' thru the Dark, 1990), Educating Rita (1979), Blood Brothers (1981; musical version 1983), and Shirley Valentine (1986).Rebecca Hillman is Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter, UK. Her research and teaching concerns performance as political activism and agitprop theatre. She focuses on theatre made by activists and trade unions in Britain since the 1960s.

This Student Edition is a class act – packed with lucid, easily digestible, yet valuable insights that will help students think about and analyse the meanings and intentions of the play with greater care. It’s also a welcome reminder of why Blood Brothers deserves to be part of our cultural DNA.

• Chronology IntroductionHistorical ContextGenre and FormSocial RealismA Folk Ballad?ThemesSuperstition and FateClassDebtBLOOD BROTHERSNotes

Willy Russell is a playwright and songwriter, and one of the most-produced writers of his time. His plays and musicals for stage and TV including John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert (1974), Breezeblock Park (1975), One for the Road (1976), Our Day Out (television 1977; stage musical version 1983), Stags and Hens (1978; filmed as Dancin' thru the Dark, 1990), Educating Rita (1979), Blood Brothers (1981; musical version 1983), and Shirley Valentine (1986).Rebecca Hillman is Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter, UK. Her research and teaching concerns performance as political activism and agitprop theatre. She focuses on theatre made by activists and trade unions in Britain since the 1960s.

This Student Edition is a class act – packed with lucid, easily digestible, yet valuable insights that will help students think about and analyse the meanings and intentions of the play with greater care. It’s also a welcome reminder of why Blood Brothers deserves to be part of our cultural DNA.

• Chronology IntroductionHistorical ContextGenre and FormSocial RealismA Folk Ballad?ThemesSuperstition and FateClassDebtBLOOD BROTHERSNotes