Tallys Blood LEARNING INTENTION TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY

Tally’s Blood LEARNING INTENTION; TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY BEHIND TALLY'A BLOOD SC: CAN COMMENT ON SETTING AND BACKGROUND OF THE PLAY

The Title "Tally's Blood" was the unpleasant nickname Scots gave the raspberry sauce that Italian ice-cream-makers put on their produce. In Ann Marie Di Mambro's drama, it is also a reference to the suffering of the Scots-Italian community during the second world war.

The Structure The play progresses chronologically. It covers a period of twenty years. There are large gaps in the time-line: Act One has scenes set in 1936, 1939, 1943 and 1944. Act Two is set eleven years later in 1955. Two nationalities are involved – Scottish and Italian.

History Much of the play is set during WW 2 (1939 -1945). In WW 2 Italy fought WITH Germany and Japan against the allied forces (Britain, France etc. ) They did this because their leader, Mussolini, dreamt of creating a new Roman Empire and wanted to take control of British and French colonies. This caused MASSIVE problems for Italians living in Britain because they were seen as traitors.

The Setting • Seven scenes are set in Italy, 24 in Scotland.

Language • The language is realistic – mostly that of working class Glaswegians. • Massimo and, particularly, Rosinella occasionally introduce Italian phrases or speech patterns. • In the scenes set in Italy, the characters sometimes use Italian. • The children use vocabulary and sentence structure appropriate to their age.

Italian Family Tree Rosinella da marries ug Uncle and aunt of ht er Lucia Ianelli Massimo n Luigi Ianelli so s marrie so Rosinella’s sister (deceased) n ‘Daddy’ Pedreschi Franco

Scottish Family Tree Mrs Devlin Bridget Devlin married Adam Devlin Hughie Devlin Six other children