Analysis of the Cliff Scene in Willy Russell's Our Day Out

Analysis of the Cliff Scene in Willy Russell's Our Day Out

The title of the play is 'Our Day Out' Willy Russell wrote it in 1977.

He was born in Whinston Lancashire. He grew up in Knowsley; a model

village set in the countryside outside Liverpool. Once Russell had

qualified as a teacher he worked at Shortfields Comprehensive School

in Liverpool where his experiences lead him directly into the writing

of 'Our Day Out'. While it was written in 1977 its roots were firmly

planted In Russell's experiences at Shorfields comprehensive. Clearly

all the vital elements of Russell's play were implicit on the day trip

for the remedial department at Shortfields. It has many fast moving

scenes. Some humorous others even depressing. The story is quite

powerful and get you thinking about many things. It was designed for

television in 1977 and made into a musical in 1983; there would be

many difficulties to put it onto stage. The problems would consist of

Mr Briggs car approaching the zebra crossing, having a lot of children

on the stage at once and having the buildings on the stage especially

the school etc

The play is set in Liverpool in a very run down area and extremely

deprived, the behaviour and problems that the children have are very

visible throughout the play.

The play is about a progress class, which consists of children who are

not very intelligent. They are in the progress class, as they do not

have very high standards and are below average when it comes to

intelligence. Their teacher is Mrs Kay. She is taking the progress

class to Conwy castle in Wales for a day trip. The play is emp...

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...asses are not all about fun for the pupils. The pupils are educated

just the same as other pupils their age just with more help. The

teachers are not like Mrs Kay and believe there is no point teaching

them. As teachers today usually believe in trying to educate everyone.

Although, there is still run down areas in some places so the story

could be half-relevant to today.

My view on the play is that it is very good and extremely well

written, it makes you feel as if you are they're watching every scene

happen. This is a good thing and means that Russell has done very well

at describing the scenes. The play keeps you gripped and hooked right

until the end. It makes you feel as though you can't put it down and

every scene is left at a cliff hanger, making you want to read on and

find out what bizarre thing happens next.