Willy Russells Our Day Out Essay -- Willy Russell Our Day Out Essays

Willy Russells Our Day OutWilly Russell has written many plays over the last thirty years, butthere is one feature that is common to wholly of them the issue ofsocial and cultural backcloth. This is the daub of thecharacters their surroundings their class the society in which theyare brought up, and the culture of that society. It is this that canlead to the behaviour, feelings, opinions and general outlook of thecharacters. Russell explores the personal effects that society and culture canhave on people in all his plays, but in none is it so poignant as inOur Day Out, the story of what happens when Mrs Kay takes herProgress class out of inner-city Liverpool on a school trip to ConwyCastle, Wales.Throughout Our Day Out the issue of social and cultural backgroundis ever-present, but it is discussed and conveyed in many differentforms the colloquial dialect Russell put ons the symbolism that isfeatured the behaviour and attitudes of the children the way thatpeople react to these ch ildren, and the insights we get into theirfamily lives.Willy Russell himself said that he writes for the theatre becauseits concerned with the communicate rather than the written word. In OurDay Out we see the importance of the spoken word through the languagethat the children use. Having grown up and taught at a Comprehensiveschool in Liverpool, Russell knows the Liverpudlian dialect perfectly,and he uses his knowledge to give a truly representative feel to theplay. The children use words such as aghey, ooer, and nottn,and the authentic language that the children use help to make the playfeel more real. Because Russell writes the words as they would bespoken in a Liverpudlian acce... ...ry isnt. The poignancy and intensity of the play is somewhatmasked in places by the comedy, but we do catch glimpses of thehopeless, desperate situation these children are facing. As Mrs Kaysays, Ten years ago you could teach them to stand in a line, youcould teach them to obey, to expect little m ore than a lousy milljob. But now they havent even got that to aim for. Theres nothing forthem to do, any of them most of them were born for factory fodder,but the factories have closed down. Throughout the play this is the profound tone, and the subtle way that Russell conveys this messageheightens the effect when it comes. This day out is simply an oasisone day of fun out of their whole lives, and at the dismiss of it we seehow the glimmer of something bright and beautiful makes it all theharder to turn your eyes back to the grey and mundane.