Do you like puppets? Do you like flamenco? Do you like poetry? Most importantly, do you like your love stories slightly…sanguine?
If you answered “yes,” you’ve got until this Saturday to catch DalTheatre’s second production of the year, Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding (directed by Jure Gantar). This Spanish tale of a bride’s haunted past and doomed nuptials is a surrealistic parable on the dangers of true love.
“There’s a lot of very strong emotional moments, there’s some live music, a little bit of dancing, there is a little bit of fighting, there is puppets—which everyone’s been waiting for—there’s all kinds of good stuff,” promises Luciana Fernandes, who acted as assistant director and dramaturge on Blood Wedding.
Spanish flavour
A Brazilian international student who has lived in Canada since the age of seventeen, Ms. Fernandes’ abilities as a translator came in handy during the production.
“Jure was interested in having me work on Blood Wedding, probably mostly because I’m fluent in Spanish.” Ms. Fernandes’ duties have involved “going back to the Spanish texts and checking on lines and translations… there’s always a language barrier.”
Not that her duties have been limited to the lingual.
“We did a lot of research… getting them (the actors) to physically transport themselves into Spain… so they would be able to really understand the impact when you’re in the dry lands, and it’s forty degrees, and you’re literally trapped in the middle of nowhere.”
Also, she adds, she “choreographed a little fight scene.”
A little fight scene? What’s a little fight scene? Ms. Fernandes refuses to let the cat out of the bag, stating only: “there’s a little moment that requires some fighting and some knives.”
The power of flamenco
Megan Kendall is Ms. Fernandes’ co-assistant director and co-dramaturge: conveniently, the women were friends before preparations for the show began.
“We know each other’s working habits very well, so there was no conflict, per se… where we are friends, and see each other a lot anyway, it was very easy for us to get work done… we also have similar theatrical tastes.”
Ms. Kendall previously took an undergraduate degree in acting at Memorial University, and is now exploring other outlets for her creativity as she studies Creative Writing and Theatre at Dalhousie. “Acting, directing and playwriting – I like all three.”
Her duties on Blood Wedding included close textual analysis of Ted Hughes’ translation of Lorca’s script (“there’s a lot of flower symbolism”), as well as flamenco choreography: Ms. Kendall had taken flamenco lessons prior to the beginning of rehearsals, and says the dance form “was a big inspiration to Lorca.”
Of working with Blood Wedding’s director, Dalhousie professor Jure Gantar, Ms. Kendall says, “He listens a lot to the students… he respects our opinions… he’s very knowledgeable about theatre… he’s very nice as well. It’s hard to meet truly nice people!”
Bloody broken hearts
Fourth-year acting student Sarah Vanasse is playing The Mother in Blood Wedding, and relishing it (“Every night, I get to end the show heartbroken!” she exclaims). Ms. Vanasse has been an actress since her elementary school’s Christmas show in the second grade: “The lead role was Santa Claus. And I wanted to be Santa Claus.” (Naturally, she was.)
Ms. Vanasse previously played a glamorous singer in DalTheatre’s first production of the year, While We’re Young – in fact, the fourth-year acting class had exactly one Sunday off following that play before starting rehearsals for Blood Wedding the next day.
“It’s surreal, experimental… I’ve never done anything like it,” says Ms. Vanasse says about Blood Wedding. “When I first read the play, I was a little overwhelmed by all the poetry… it’s still really overwhelming, because it’s so passionate… there’s a lot of times you have to kind of sit back and ask yourself, ‘What does Lorca mean by this?’”
While Lorca’s experimental tendencies were challenging, they were also exhilarating.
“My favourite is as soon as the play starts getting really surreal… all of a sudden, there’s a sharp change in the play… things get wild. The play kind of sucks away everything from you and you’re left with nothing. It’s so tragic and sad.”
Even while discussing the play's tragedy, however, Ms. Vanasse can’t keep the excited grin off her face. “Tragedy and comedy are linked closer than people think,” she says – and she promises that in the midst of all the surrealism, little knife fights, and titular blood, the play does have its funny moments.
Blood Wedding will be performed nightly at 8 p.m. through this Saturday night, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday afternoon, in the Sir James Dunn Theatre. Tickets are available at the Dalhousie Arts Centre box office.