BLOOD WEDDING
April 2000

Cumbernauld News – “Nice day for a blood wedding”  1 | 2 | Top

Forbidden passion, the honour of the family, Vengeance…

            Blood wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca has just about got the lot.

            First produced in 1933, it is recognised as the Spanish playwright’s masterpiece – and Cumbernauld Youth Theatre are determined to do it justice when they take to the stage at Cumbernauld Theatre on Friday April 7 and Saturday April 8.

            Lorca, who died in the Spanish Civil war, based the play on a 1928 news story about a young Andalusian woman who escaped an arranged marriage by running off with her cousin.

            To say any more would be giving the game away, so if you want to find out what happens, you will have to go and see for yourselves!

            Youth Theatre director Evelyn Wallace said: “This is a classic play an presents the actors with a big challenge in the same way that Shakespeare might.

            There are big emotions to be conveyed.

            “It is deeply romantic and tragic, full of strong deep feelings and the language of the play is poetic and not at all naturalistic.

            In addition, Blood Wedding incorporates Andalusian folk music and dance.

            Evelyn has even brought in flamenco musician and dancers to work with the cast.

            She said: “Some people have attended flamenco workshops which are absolutely brilliant fun and musician Bob Leslie will be playing Spanish guitar live on stage throughout the performance. He’ll be accompanied by a dancer onstage.”

            This sounds like an extremely ambitious production and could make for a highly memorable night out.

            Tickets priced £5/£3 are available from the Box Office on (01236) 732887

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A beautiful bride, a handsome, prosperous groom, happy parents.

            It sounds like the stuff that dreams are made of, almost a fairy tale, but in Federico Garcia Lorca’s doom laden Blood Wedding, nobody lives happily ever after.

            The announcement of a wedding in rural Spain sets in motion a chain of tragic events, leading ultimately to a fatal clash, as a girl who marries to please her father realises too late that she still desires her former lover.

            A challenging choice for Cumbernauld Youth Theatre, who performed the play, at Cumbernauld Theatre recently, but they rose to the occasion with skill and boundless energy as the tackled this tale of conflict between duty and love.

            It is difficult to pick out individual performances from the high standard on display but special mention should be given to Cheryl Miller, playing the bride who marries a respectable man but cannot forget her unhappily married former suitor.

            In his less demonstrative role Robert Stewart excels as the blameless bridegroom, whose calm turns to outrage as he discovers the feelings of his new wife.

            Finally the brief appearance of Laura Gordon as The Moon that reveals the lovers’ hiding place reminds us that Lorca was a great poet as well as a playwright.

            Good as they were in their own right, the cast benefited immensely from the costume design, the flamboyant dress of the younger character contrasting perfectly with the more austere clothing of their elders.

            Also crucial to the success of the presentation was the brightly lit set, with it’s whitewashed house exterior and the bull right where the wedding party took place.

            Last but certainly not least, no review of the play would be complete without congratulations to flamenco dancer Louise Davidson and Spanish guitarist Bob Leslie, whose haunting musical interludes within the play blended perfectly with the dramatic action and added to the air of brooding menace.

            Cumbernauld Youth Theatre handled this difficult material well and on this showing continue to have a promising future.

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