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Willy Russell has written many plays over the last thirty years, but there is one feature that is common to all of them the issue of social and cultural background. This is the situation of the characters; their surroundings; their class; the society in which they are brought up, and the culture of that society. It is this that can lead to the behaviour, feelings, opinions and general outlook of the characters. Russell explores the effects that society and culture can have on people in all his plays, but in none is it so poignant as in 'Our Day Out', the story of what happens when Mrs Kay takes her Progress class out of inner-city Liverpool on a school trip to Conwy Castle, Wales.
Throughout 'Our Day Out' the issue of social and cultural background is ever-present, but it is discussed and conveyed in many different forms; the colloquial dialect Russell uses; the symbolism that is featured; the behaviour and attitudes of the children; the way that people react to these children, and the insights we get into their family lives.
Willy Russell himself said that he writes for the theatre because 'it's concerned with the spoken rather than the written word'. In 'Our Day Out' we see the importance of the spoken word through the language that the children use. Having grown up and taught at a Comprehensive school in Liverpool, Russell knows the Liverpudlian dialect perfectly, and he uses his knowledge to give a truly representative feel to the play. The children use words such as 'agh'ey', 'ooer', and 'nott'n', and the authentic language that the children use help to make the play feel more real. Because Russell writes the words as they would be spoken in a Liverpudlian accent, we can't help but speak in a Liverpudlian accent when reading the play, and this again adds to the authenticity. The children also use slang words. For example, they refer to the Corporation as 'The Corpy', bonfire night as 'bommy night', and cigarettes as 'ciggies'. In any society, the colloquial dialect is an essential part of the culture, and the use of it in 'Our Day Out' forcefully conveys to the audience the essence of the background of these children.
Symbolism plays a significant part in 'Our Day Out', because it gives Russell the opportunity to display how the children feel about their hopeless situations, without having to state it in the text or put it in the dialogue. This is important because the children don't necessarily know how they feel, or if they do they can't express it, so to put it in the dialogue would be inconsistent with their characters. If Russell had put it in the stage directions it would not be experienced to its full impact when people see the play on television or on the stage. Russell also probably didn't want to be so explicit; some things, such as the knowledge of the hopelessness of the children's situations and the destitution they are facing, are more poignant and affecting when implied through some form of symbolism rather than directly stated.
The two most obvious symbols in the play are the analogies of the bear in the pit at the zoo and the goldfish in the bag Carol wins at the fair. In the first case the bear represents the children, and the pit represents Liverpool. The children are trapped in this place that they can't escape from, and the sad fact is, society doesn't want them to escape. Russell said, 'Whilst the working classes are accused of being philistines, there is a general attempt in this country to withhold culture from them'. Mrs Kay echoes this sentiment when she tells Mr Briggs that he 'won't educate them (the children) because nobody wants them educating'. The bear is trapped in the pit because of an outside force, in this case, humans. He hasn't actually done anything wrong but he is persecuted all the same, just for being a bear. In the bear's case this is reasonable because we know that bear's are dangerous, but in the children's it isn't. They are kept in their 'pit' due to no fault of their own, and have it impressed upon them that it is. Carol tells Mrs Kay, 'Couldn't have nothin' like this (the sea, fields and castle) round our way' and when Mrs Kay asks why not, she says, 'Cos we'd only wreck it, wouldn't we?…That's why we never have nothin' nice round our way- cos we'd just smash it up.' The stigma surrounding the working-class was maybe born out of myth, but if someone expects you to behave in a certain way, you begin to. These children have been brought up with people expecting them to shoplift and destroy things, so now they do, and that just increases the prejudice towards them. The vicious cycle of the self-fulfilling prophecy continues. After the discovery of the bear, the ensuing conversation is plainly related to the children's situation. Ronson declares that he thinks keeping the bear in the pit is 'cruel' and Briggs replies that it's not cruel 'if it's treated well' and that 'it was born in captivity so it won't know any other sort of life.' Ronson thinks it does, and then another girl says, 'it was born in a cage an' it's lived all its life in a pit, well, it won't know nothin' else so it won't want nothin' else'. Ronson argues that 'It kills them (people) cos they're cruel to it. They keep it in a pit so when it gets out it's bound to be mad an' wanna kill people.' Ronson probably doesn't realise as he's saying this, how relevant it is to his situation. He goes on to say that 'it must know about other ways of living, sir. Y' know, free, like the way people have stopped it livin'. It only kills people cos it's trapped an' people are always stood lookin' at it. If it was free it wouldn't bother people at all.' Andrews argues 'Bears kill y' cos it's in them t' kill y'.' This whole dialogue is representative of the children, and parallels their situations, though the children are completely ignorant of this. This symbolism is very powerful because it really makes the audience consider the desperation of the children's circumstances, and Ronson's innocent compassion towards the bear is nothing short of endearing. We also see that Briggs' attitude towards the bear is the same as towards the children; he doesn't really credit them with any sort of idea of what they're facing, only with ignorance.
The second obvious metaphor is the goldfish in the bag. At the end of the play, when they have arrived back at school, Carol 'walk(s) along the street with the goldfish in her grasp'. The goldfish is again signifying the children, and the bag in which it is contained, Liverpool. The goldfish is trapped, but here there is a new element. The plastic bag is not a pleasant environment for the goldfish, but if you take it out of that environment it will not be able to survive; it will die. This is obviously how Russell felt about the children, though probably not in quite such simple terms. Whilst the society of inner city Liverpool is not the best for the children, if you take them out of the familiar environment and culture they know, they will no doubt flounder and struggle in the alien surroundings. While it is unlikely they should die, they will not prosper, as they will always be outsiders in a world that they do not understand and a culture of which they are completely ignorant. The symbolism is a means for Russell to expand his views on the situation of these children, and without it he wouldn't have been able to express himself nearly so fully or extensively.
We gain probably our greatest insight into the children's social and cultural background through their own behaviour and attitudes. The characterisation is so detailed and this characterisation so consistent that we cannot fail to get what we feel are valid, sincere impressions of the backgrounds of the children and the way they have been brought up, though doubtlessly some of their reactions are as a consequence to people's behaviour towards them.
At the beginning of scene one the description tells us that 'kids are pushing, shoving, rushing, ambling, leering and jeering.' This gives the impression that the children are perhaps slightly rough in their movements and not terribly decorous, as all these verbs are quite vigorous and forceful. At the beginning of scene four the children are described as 'excited' and 'lively'. They are obviously looking forward to the school trip as is natural but perhaps to a greater degree than normal because of the few times they have been out of Liverpool. As Mr Briggs says, 'for some of them it's the first time they've been further than Birkenhead.' When the driver of the coach insists that Mrs Kay checks the children for chocolate and lemonade before letting them on the coach, Mrs Kay asks them to raise their hands if they have any, and all the children look back at her; 'A sea of dumb faces and unraised hands.' Then while Mrs Kay is telling the driver how 'the kids with (her) today don't know what it is to look at a bar of chocolate' and 'Lemonade never touches their lips', all the children are 'stuffing themselves with sweets and lemonade.' Though when the driver comes back on the bus it all disappears. The children have no shame in lying to the teacher, even when the driver is so much affected by Mrs Kay's talk that he gives one of the children money to go and buy as much lemonade and chocolate as he can. It is obvious that the children have been brought up to do whatever is necessary to look after themselves, even on a small scale such as this. This tactic is apparent again when Reilly and Digga order the 'little kid' off the back seat, where they want to sit. Mr Briggs tells the children before they depart that he's 'driven in (his) car behind school coaches and seen it. A mass of little hands raised in two-fingered gestures to the passing cars.' When Briggs asks 'But we won't do that will we?' All the children chorus 'No Sir.' But as soon as the coach pulls away, 'Thousands of little fingers raise in a V-sign out of the windows.' Defiance of a teacher whom the children neither like nor respect is not a rare thing at any school, but I know from my own experience that it would never have occurred to me to make obscene gestures out of coach windows; such behaviour would have been alien to my upbringing. In all likelihood, these children have seen their parents, their families use such gestures and have picked it up from there. It highlights the society of which they a part.
As the coach leaves the city, Digga and Reilly 'light up', and later when questioned by Briggs, Andrews reveals that he has been smoking 'since (he) was eight' and now, at the age of thirteen, he is unable to give up. I think this is one of the most poignant moments in the play; Briggs is faced with a thirteen year-old who can't stop smoking, and who says that his father 'belts' him, not because he is smoking, but because he won't give him a cigarette. This conversation that Andrews has with Briggs reveals a lot about his family background, and through that the social and cultural background. We learn that Andrews' parents are not concerned that there son smokes, and that his father 'comes round every now an' then an' has a barney with (his) mam' and 'then he goes off again.' Andrews thinks that 'he tries to get money off her (Andrews' mother) but she won't give it him though. She hates him.' Andrews says, 'We all hate him.' After Andrews has said this there is a pause because Briggs doesn't seem to know what to say. It is also revealed slightly earlier, when Andrews wants a cigarette from Reill from studentcentral.co.uk y and Digga but can't have one because he hasn't got any money, that his mother is a prostitute. Digga says 'your ma's loaded' and when Andrews disagrees Reilly says 'Well she should be…all the fellers she picks up on the Parly.' At this point we suddenly feel a real compassion for Andrews; he has no future and no stable family unit to fall back on. Russell reveals the dysfunctional and almost tragic background that Andrews, and doubtlessly some of the other children, come from in such a way as makes it more affecting. In the same scene it is revealed that Reilly's mother is dead, when Reilly says, 'Sir, I swear on me mother.' and Digga tells Briggs not to believe him, 'How can he swear on his mother. She's been dead for ten years.' Then Reilly tells Briggs that his dad works on the docks and 'He hates it.' When Briggs asks, 'His job or the place?' Reilly replies 'The whole lot.' With these sorts of backgrounds it is hardly surprising that these children are in the Progress class, and that they smoke, swear and behave the way they do, 'like animals.' Parents shape the people their children become, and their behaviour can influence a child more than they may know, as we see in 'Our Day Out'.
In scene fifteen, at the caf where they stop on the way to the castle, we see more of the children's 'animal' behaviour. Russell simply describes the scene; 'The counter cannot be seen for pushing, impatient kids…As the orders are shouted, the kids are robbing stuff left, right and centre.' We get the feeling that the children are fairly proficient when it comes to shoplifting; 'it's the usual trick but the two men are falling for it- the kids point to jars high up, as the men turn their backs, so racks of chocolate bars disappear into eager pockets.' Russell depicts the scene in a comic manner, as with the whole play, and as a result we don't fell the need to condemn the children, especially as Mac and John, the two men who run the shop, put the prices up as soon as they see the coach full of children approaching, saying 'We'll milk this little lot.' I suppose these children have had the survival instinct instilled in them from a very early age, and have learnt the most effective way of getting what they want, regardless of any unspoken moral codes of society, or maybe in their society the 'rules' are different.
We see this same disregard for authority when the children visit the children's zoo and fall in love with the various rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils and bantam hens. They know they are not supposed to touch them, as Carol tells Ronson as he strokes a rabbit ''Ey you. Y' not supposed t' touch them.' Ronson answers by 'picking up the rabbit and gently stroking it.' When Carol 'reaches over to join him…he pulls it close to him protectively', so Carol decides to get one of her own and picks up a guinea pig. A little later Russell says 'More kids have followed Ronson's example. Quite a few of them are clutching furry friends.' A little later again Russell says 'The animal pit is empty. The children have gone.' The coach is just about to leave when an animal keeper flags it down and strides on board. He is shouting angrily, calling the children 'animals'. He demands of the children, 'Where are they?' and 'the kids look back innocently'. A moment later a clucking hen is heard and a bantam is revealed hidden under a child's coat. The keeper demands the rest, and 'There's a moment's hesitation before the floodgates are opened. Animals appear from every conceivable hiding place. The coach becomes a menagerie.' But this failed attempt to appropriate the animals was about more than simply the children seeing what they wanted and taking it. If there is one thing that becomes apparent through the insights we get into the family lives of the children, it is how void they are of love and affection. This is why Carol 'has her arm linked through Mrs Kay's and is snuggled up to her'. She is looking for some affection, as the narrative makes obvious when stating, 'They look more like mother and daughter than teacher and pupil.' This is why the children took the animals; to have something of their own to love and care for. For me, this somewhat infantile, and quite comical deed revealed so much about the children. While they might put on a nonchalant, blas persona, these remedial kids really do care that they don't have a stable, loving family, and this is why they look to Mrs Kay as a mother figure, and why Mrs Kay doesn't try and stop them doing so.
After they have visited the castle they go to the beach, and here we see the same desire of affection that was exhibited earlier. The children look to Mrs Kay as a friend, and this is demonstrated when the children are paddling with her in the water while Briggs sits on his own. Mrs Kay starts to chase Kevin and eventually catches him. Kevin 'is hardly able to run because of laughing so much.' Mrs Kay turns him upside down and ducks his head under the water. He starts to complain that he 'might get a cold' so Mrs Kay 'reaches in her bag and produces a towel. She wraps the towel around Kevin's head and rubs vigorously.' Beneath the towel Kevin is 'beaming and happy'. There is something extremely poignant and almost tragic about these children's desperate need for love and attention, and how even something as small as having their hair dried with a towel by a teacher can make them vastly happy.
There are two key contrasting views of the children's social and cultural environment in 'Our Day Out' the children's perspective and the teachers'. The teachers are painfully aware of the children's hopeless situations, while the children seem to be blissfully ignorant of the impoverished futures they are inheriting from society. We witness how events turn as Carol is transported from ignorance to awareness, and gains an adult's perception of her true situation, though she maintains only a child's understanding of her new insights.
Throughout the play we see the two conflicting approaches to teaching of Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs. However different their methods are, they are both, however, affected by the knowledge that the education of these remedial children is, in some degrees, futile. We just find that Mrs Kay is more openly conscious of it and readier to acknowledge it.
Mrs Kay has adapted her teaching style to these children; she has accepted the partial futility of teaching them, and instead just wants them to have fun. Mr Briggs on the other hand, doesn't want to allow that the education system has failed these children, because if he does, the foundations of his training and the meaning he attaches to it, will crumble, as we observe when he and Mrs Kay have a some-what heated discussion at the castle. She tells him that 'There's no in point pretending that a day out to Wales is going to furnish them with the education they should have had long ago. It's too late for them…We're not going to solve anything today. Can't we just try and give them a good day out?' Mr Briggs replies 'Well, that's a fine attitude isn't it? That's a fine attitude for a member of the teaching profession to have.' He doesn't seem able to handle the notion that in this case education is meaningless; he has to go on fooling himself because if he doesn't, his whole stability and security will disintegrate. He won't allow himself to realise the truth until it is thrust in his face, somewhat painfully, when he has to prevent Carol Chandler from throwing herself of a cliff, because she cannot stand the thought of returning to Liverpool. She has had a glimpse of what she cannot ever hope to aspire to, as Mrs Kay is obviously aware of when Carol asks her, 'if I started to work hard now an' learned how to read…Well, d' y' think I'd be able t' live in one of them nice places?' and Mrs Kay pauses, and replies 'Well you could try, couldn't you love.' Mrs Kay clearly doesn't want to disillusion Carol, but nor does she want to lie to her and give her false hopes.
The irony is that while Briggs refuses to accept the truth of the matter, he also doesn't believe that the children have any chance of succeeding. As he gets on the coach at the beginning of the play, he says to Mrs Kay, 'You've got some real bright sparks here, Mrs Kay. A right bunch.' and 'There's a few of 'em I could sling off right now.' He continues this sort of prejudiced behaviour towards the children throughout the play, and doesn't credit them with any form of intellect whatsoever. When he is faced with a suicidal Carol, he seems unable to believe that Carol is being serious; he thinks she is 'silly' and tries to intimidate her into leaving the cliff. Carol refuses and he is surprised by her obstinacy, not really taking her seriously. But when he realises that she isn't just attention seeking, it makes a very forceful impression on him. Briggs changes, he becomes softer and loses his school master persona. He treats Carol as a real person, rather than as just another working-class, remedial child. From this point he transforms; he takes the children to a fair and is photographed on the waltzers, the big wheel, eating candyfloss, and with a cowboy hat on his head, handing a goldfish in a bag to Carol. We assume this metamorphosis is permanent, but we later see how hard it is for Mr Briggs to forget the principles by which he has lived his life, both in the classroom, and doubtlessly out of it.
Until the scene on the cliff, we don't realise how much Carol has been harmed by her social and cultural background, or how aware she is of the desperation of her situation. This knowledge almost led her to kill herself, and the question that Willy Russell is begging us to ask is whether ignorance is better than awareness, and whether Mrs Kay has done more harm than good by allowing the children one glorious taste of what they could never hope to have. She wanted to give them a good day out, but she also showed them the world that isn't within the grasp of these children; she made them aware of what they haven't got and could never hope to have, and Mrs Kay knows that as well as Carol does when she tells Mr Briggs, 'Don't be friggin' stupid' after he has suggested that if she works hard and gets a good job she could move to somewhere nice when she's old enough.
When I read 'Our Day Out', I don't see it as a fictional play, but as a window opening onto an unceasing society and a culture wholly different from my own. It doesn't seem as if it is a story, but a documentary, and I think this extent of authenticity can only be reached when the playwright has direct experiences to draw on such as Willy Russell has. He has lived and worked in this society, so although the characters are entirely fictional, to some degree the story isn't. The poignancy and intensity of the play is somewhat masked in places by the comedy, but we do catch glimpses of the hopeless, desperate situation these children are facing. As Mrs Kay says, 'Ten years ago you could teach them to stand in a line, you could teach them to obey, to expect little more than a lousy factory job. But now they haven't even got that to aim for…There's nothing for them 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 underlying tone, and the subtle way that Russell conveys this message heightens the effect when it comes. This day out is simply an oasis; one day of fun out of their whole lives, and at the end of it we see how the glimmer of something bright and beautiful makes it all the harder to turn your eyes back to the grey and mundane.
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