- Our Day Out (musical)
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Our Day Out 
Front cover of the 1993 version of Our Day Out from Heinemann Plays series 1993Author(s) Willy Russell Cover artist Clare Webber Country United Kingdom Language English Publisher Hutchinson Education Publication date 1987 ISBN ISBN 0-435-23301-7 and ISBN 978-0-435233-01-3 OCLC Number 30777435 Our Day Out is a musical written by Willy Russel in 1977.[1] It was written for a film which was broadcast by the BBC, and was later ad
Contents
Synopsis
The musical is about students from an inner-city school in Liverpool who go on a trip to Conwy Castle in Wales. Mrs Kay teaches a class of illiterate pupils, called the "Progress Class". At the very last minute, the disciplinarian Deputy Headteacher, Mr Briggs, also joins.
Plot
The story is about Liverpool children in a Progress Class going on a school trip to Conwy Castle in Wales but they are very misbehaving students. On the journey, they make some stops: at a petrol station they steal sweets, at the zoo they steal most of the animals and a student gets lost at the beach.
Analysis
The major themes in Our Day Out are the lack of education, lack of opportunity and deprivation in inner city Liverpool equaling unemployment and no money for education because of this. Willy Russell makes this point very clear to the audience by using characters that, the lack of pretty much everything in Liverpool except the crime and filth is really effecting e.g. Carol- her lack of education is very obviously troubling her as she would like to get a good job however is not bright enough to do so because of the lack of education.
Main characters
Teachers
- Mrs Kay: Teacher of the Progress Class; in her early forties.
- Susan: Helps Mrs Kay look after the children; early twenties.
- Colin: Another helper of Mrs Kay; he is teased by Reilly & Digga because he is dating Susan and is in his early twenties.
- Mr Briggs: Deputy Headmaster; he is very strict and tries to discipline the children; early thirties.
- The Headmaster: Sends Mr Briggs to supervise the children.
Kids
- Carol: First and last character seen in the play. Thirteen years old.
- Reilly: Class bully. Fifteen years old.
- Digga: Reilly's 'assistant'. Fifteen years old.
- Linda: In love with Colin. Fifteen years old.
- Karen: Linda's friend; in love with Colin. Fifteen years old.
- Andrews: Thirteen years old. Andrews is addicted to smoking and does not have a very good life at home. His parents too, are addicted to smoking and he is belted at home (in the film he is played by alex verinder).
- Ronson: A minor character in the play. He is seen in a conversation at the zoo with Mr. Briggs and Andrews
- Kevin: Another minor character, he is seen in an encounter with Mrs. Kay on the beach. Twelve years old.
- Jimmy: Twelve years old.
- Maurice: Twelve years old.
Shopkeepers
- Mrs Roberts: Foresees what might happen to her if she lets the children into her café and forbids them from entering.
- Waitress: Works in Mrs Roberts's café.
- John: Shop owner who gets robbed by the kids.
- Mac: Shop owner who gets robbed by the kids.
Other Adults
- Les: The lollipop man.
- Ronny Suttcliffe: Driver of the coach who gets tricked by Mrs Kay.
- The Animal Keeper: He is seen when he shouts at the kids for stealing animals from the zoo.
References
- ^ Russell, Willy (1993). Our Day Out. United Kingdom: Heinemann Educational Publishers. pp. ix. ISBN 0-435-23301-7.
See also
This article on a play from the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
