Set in rural Spain, Blood Wedding is said to have been inspired by real life events that took place in the AlmerÃa region in the 1920s. Federico GarcÃa Lorca’s 1932 Spanish tragedy pivots on the simple premise of a young woman torn between the man she loves and the man her family wants her to marry. It is a universal narrative tried and tested across many literary genres.
In the context of Blood Wedding, the tragedy genre is paired with naturalist conventions to impeccably portray the rule of 1930s dictator Francisco Franco. This context casts a tense and somewhat morbid aesthetic over the text and this is reflected on the stage: miscellaneous 1940s wooden chairs accompanied by a matching foldout table for domestic scenes, timber shipping pallets assembled and placed on a movable platform for various backdrop configurations and costumes comprising dry shades and hues indicative of the period. This minimalist approach is the production’s most consistently pleasing characteristic.
Lorca’s script is saturated with poetic dialogue, which is memorable and jarring, and a testament to his life as a poet well before he added playwriting to his resumé. Lines like ‘His reputation is cleaner than a sheet out in the sun’ and ‘She has a row of teeth that can chew through a rope’ are hilarious. But in the context of a very serious scene about marriage arrangements, the characters who deliver them, Mother (Chloe Schwank) and Neighbour (Lissa Hanssens) must do so with full conviction, indifferent to the possibility that those outside of the world of the play will find them humorous.
Unfortunately, overacting ruins Lorca’s beautiful words. It begins with Schwank and Hanssens, but unfortunately becomes a recurring pattern for the majority of the actors – even leads Denis Troncoso (as Leonardo) and Sam Walter (as the Groom).
Once again, evocative and visceral dialogue such as ‘Why do you look at me like that, with a tiger in each eye?’ are words that ring true in any context, meaning they should stay with the audience well before the curtain falls. But director Diana Paola Alvarado’s negligence in fostering conviction in the rehearsal room is a serious letdown and, at times, agonising to watch. The telenovela-like performances (known in Spain as culebrones) hinder the harrowing themes of love and loss with which the audience should naturally be able to connect.
Moreover, the characters Moon and Death in Blood Wedding are flattened by a lack of clarity in their significance. It is obvious that Alvarado wants to avoid having actors dressed up as the Grim Reaper and a literal moon on stage, instead opting for chorus-like movements and choreographed delivery of dialogue. However, such representation is a disservice to Lorca’s role in introducing key European movements, such as symbolism and naturalism, to the Spanish arts and culture scene.
Sometimes, there are elements of a text that are so profoundly iconic that you just don’t touch them. Happily this is the case for the culturally significant orange blossoms used in the play and in traditional Spanish weddings. But the amorphous blobs of people depicted on stage lack clarity in portraying Moon and Death, let alone convincing us that this directorial decision is appropriate.
The saving grace of the production is by far emerging talent Emilia Kriketos in the role of the Bride. Kriketos’ physical movement on stage is controlled and her delivery captures what it means to have your heart torn between two people. Unfortunately, her performance is not enough to save Blood Wedding with 14 bodies permanently on stage.
Read: Musical review: In the Heights, Sydney Opera House
Blood Wedding by Federico GarcÃa Lorca
La Fabrica de Mircoobios and Gente Perdida, Flight Path Theatre
Director/Producer: Diana Paola Alvarado
Producer: Patricio Ibarra
Executive Producer: Jayson Mcnamara
Assistant Director Kirsty Semaan
Lighting Designer: Jas Borsovszky
Set, Props and Costume Design Adviser: Meg Anderson
Set, Props and Costume Manager: Leandro Sanchez
Sets and Props Supervisor: Jason Lowe
Tech Assistant/Lighting operator: Eliza Dodd
Dramaturge: Rowen Brunt
Graphic Designers: Soledad Neimann and Constanza Olmos
Cast: Lainey Baldwin, Breanna Boyd, Lisa Hanssens, Patricio Ibarra, Emilia Kriketos, Ingrid Leighton, Lana Morgan, Danette Potgieter, Leandro Sanchez, Chloe Schwank, Babette Shaw, Denis Troncoso, Sam Walter, Cath Young
Blood Wedding will be performed until 3 August 2024.
