Blood Wedding

A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

A blood feud that can only end badly, this has been adapted from the 1933 tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca.

Two families are at loggerheads. They have been for generations.

I draw a parallel to the antipathy between the Montagues and the Capulets in Romeo and Juliet.

Extend that to the conflict between the Jets and the Sharks in West Side Story (which took its cue from Romeo and Juliet).

Tribal fights and family feuds have been around since Moses was a boy and have much to do with power and control.

In this case, a character known as the groom’s mother is bitter at having lost her beloved husband, along with her eldest son, at the hands of the Felix clan.

Now comes the news that her remaining son – the groom – is to marry, something she isn’t exactly enamoured by … because it will leave her on her own.

She is aware that the bride-to-be’s great-grandmother was a scarlet woman, who had 20 children with 20 different men.

Further, the bride’s mother, who is also no longer with us, was noted for straying with many men while she was married.

To add insult to injury, the soon-to-be bride was coupled with Leonardo Felix before she became betrothed to her son.

Leonardo subsequently married the bride’s cousin, with whom he has a child.

Truth be told, the bride and Leonardo are still very much in lust and in love, and the bride approaches her wedding day with a great deal of trepidation.

So it is that immediately after the wedding, the groom will face off against Leonardo in a fight to the death.

Akin to a Greek tragedy, we are left to watch the cards play out as they have been dealt.

No amount of interior exhortation can change the inevitable in a society where men are dominant.

Their anger and machismo won’t be compromised, while women are subjugated.

In the wake of global turmoil today, I was left asking how much had changed.

There is no letup in the Middle East crisis or the Russia/Ukraine war, to name but two trigger points.

In many locales, women remain second class citizens, while in certain industries and professions the glass ceiling is still intact.

Against this real-life backdrop, we see Blood Wedding unfold. Should we be surprised at the outcome? Hardly.

The seven-strong cast enthusiastically throw themselves into the fray. While the lines are generally well delivered, some of the performers could benefit from loosening up and simply letting the dialogue flow from the roles they inhabit.

The test of the best actors is to have us – the audience – believe they have morphed into characters they play. In other words, there is no line between the actors and their characters. In that regard, the ensemble has a way to go.

Dion Zapantis stands out as the aggressive Leonardo Felix.

I appreciated the staging, which includes effective slow-motion sequences at the wedding banquet and the final fight scene.

Sporadic video imagery, including a close-up of a horse’s eye and a white horse running free, is evocative.

Costuming, especially the all black wedding party, strikes a chord.

Director Deborah Leiser-Moore keeps a tight rein on the production, which resonates all the more strongly because of what is happening today.

Blood Wedding is on at Theatre Works until 2^nd August, 2025.