Blood Wedding is a difficult play to produce. It is surreal, poetic and contains aspects of song and rhythm that often cannot be reproduced in performance as once desired by Spanish playwright, Federico Garcia Lorca. However, Monash University Student Theatre’s production of Blood Wedding or Bodas de Sangre is an inventive, experimental and thoroughly researched production that effectively achieves the original sense of musicality of the play.
The Monash University Student Theatre space is much like many smaller production’s spaces: a black, square room that acts as the stage, the seating area and the foyer. Often you walk into these theatres fearing a bland, low budget piece of so-called ‘experimental theatre’. Having said that, this was not my first visit to the MUST headquarters and after seeing their production of Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange I had high expectations for this production. I was not disappointed.
Visually, director and set conception designer, Celeste Macleod, has captured the essence of Lorca’s surrealist staging. Basic, abstracted set pieces reveal an entirely new setting while lighting enhances the mood of the various scenes. The small space and reduced audience size heightens the tension of the performance, a very important aspect in Blood Wedding. However, the small stage often seemed overly crowded despite having only a maximum of twelve actors on stage which became distracting, especially in the wedding party scene in which it was hard to separate the important action with the background dancing.
The cast performed with an enthusiastic energy that relayed a passion for their performance and adaptation. Sarah Walker, as the Mother, and Lili Andrews, as the Bride, were both excellent in conveying a sense of absolute passion, which is one of the play’s key motives. Their characterisation was incredibly detailed and carefully specific which paid off in the final scene, which is played out at an extreme level of emotional intensity. Sara Downs, who played a variety of characters including the servant and the Beggar Woman, was probably the strongest member of the cast, evident in her ability to transform character so rapidly and effectively. As the servant she was a fun-loving, energetic character hustling and busting around the stage. This was a complete contrast from the passive but eerily intimidating Beggar Woman who is indeed death in disguise.
Charles Leong’s sly and playful characterisation of the Moon was interesting and appropriate to the Moon’s malicious need for blood. Despite this Leong sometimes seemed to menacingly laugh at his character rather than as his character, a trait that caused the scene to become almost comedic instead of horrifyingly spine-chilling. This difficulty in portraying such extreme emotion was evident in other characterisations, for example Phillip Rouse’s character, Leonardo. Leonardo is a powerful, domineering man and many of his scenes require intense conflicts. Rouse, sometimes dropped character (or even picked up an American accent) in these situations.
One of the most impressive features of MUST’s production of Blood Wedding is the use of music. Composers Kate Alexander and Tom Wolfe provide a hauntingly beautiful soundscape that I am sure would impress Lorca himself. The music creates the impression of a thoroughly modern production that is still in contact with its Spanish origins while assisting the actors in their songs and rhymes that are weaved throughout Lorca’s play. This is effectively achieved without becoming overly prominent or distracting in the production.
Monash University Student Theatre’s Blood Wedding is a fresh, modern adaptation of Lorca’s rarely produced text and despite some minor flaws is indeed an interesting analysis of love in our contemporary society.
