Part 5 Summary
This is the last action of the act and sees Edward move to a new house in the country away from Mickey and his family. Mrs Lyons seems to be much happier as she has put Mrs Johnstone and her family in the past. We see how much more relaxed she is when Edward points out the danger of the lone magpie and she tells him that he should forget everything that Mickey told him.
The two boys are lonely without each other and the pace of the drama slows as they are bored on a Sunday afternoon. Despite being miles from each other, they are on stage together singing a song, where they both want to be the opposite of what they are. Mickey wants to be, ‘clean neat and tidy,’ and to be good at school, while Edward wants to ‘walk around with dirty knees,’ and be able to climb and play football like Mickey. Both boys think that the other one is better. The playwright is highlighting how humans often think that everyone else is better than them and how we want what we can’t have.
The act ends on a positive note, with Mrs Johnstone announcing that they are moving away, that the council has found them a new home and she is ecstatic to be leaving her old life in the past. She thinks that they can ‘start all over again,’ where their reputation won’t work against them and that they won’t be judged on the past.
The policeman, the milkman and the catalogue man all sing about how happy they are to see them leaving with the policeman predicting ‘a sharp drop in the crime rate.’
Linda comes on stage to say they’re going too. Mickey tells his mother he has never seen her so happy and the act ends with an uplifting song with everyone feeling happy and positive for the future. The curtain comes down as they all sing about how happy they are.
- Both boys sing the song, “I wish that I could be like…” What do each of them want to be? What does this show about humans?
- What good news does Mrs Johnstone get?
- During the song, we hear all the positives about moving away, what are they?
- How do the other characters react to Mrs Johnstone’s news?
- What is the mood like at the end of this scene? How do you feel as a member of the audience?
- Imagine you are Mrs Johnstone. Write a diary entry based on the news you got today and talk about your hopes for the future.