Do you like puppets? Do you like flamenco? Do you like poetry? Most importantly, do you like your love stories slightlyâŠsanguine?
If you answered âyes,â youâve got until this Saturday to catch DalTheatreâs second production of the year, Federico Garcia Lorcaâs Blood Wedding (directed by Jure Gantar). This Spanish tale of a brideâs haunted past and doomed nuptials is a surrealistic parable on the dangers of true love.
âThereâs a lot of very strong emotional moments, thereâs some live music, a little bit of dancing, there is a little bit of fighting, there is puppetsâwhich everyoneâs been waiting forâthereâs all kinds of good stuff,â 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. Fernandesâ abilities as a translator came in handy during the production.
âJure was interested in having me work on Blood Wedding, probably mostly because Iâm fluent in Spanish.â Ms. Fernandesâ duties have involved âgoing back to the Spanish texts and checking on lines and translations⊠thereâs always a language barrier.â
Not that her duties have been limited to the lingual.
âWe 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 youâre in the dry lands, and itâs forty degrees, and youâre literally trapped in the middle of nowhere.â
Also, she adds, she âchoreographed a little fight scene.â
A little fight scene? Whatâs a little fight scene? Ms. Fernandes refuses to let the cat out of the bag, stating only: âthereâs a little moment that requires some fighting and some knives.â
The power of flamenco
Megan Kendall is Ms. Fernandesâ co-assistant director and co-dramaturge: conveniently, the women were friends before preparations for the show began.
âWe know each otherâs 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.â
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 ±«Óătv. âActing, directing and playwriting â I like all three.â
Her duties on Blood Wedding included close textual analysis of Ted Hughesâ translation of Lorcaâs script (âthereâs a lot of flower symbolismâ), as well as flamenco choreography: Ms. Kendall had taken flamenco lessons prior to the beginning of rehearsals, and says the dance form âwas a big inspiration to Lorca.â
Of working with Blood Weddingâs director, ±«Óătv professor Jure Gantar, Ms. Kendall says, âHe listens a lot to the students⊠he respects our opinions⊠heâs very knowledgeable about theatre⊠heâs very nice as well. Itâs hard to meet truly nice people!â
Bloody broken hearts
Fourth-year acting student Sarah Vanasse is playing The Mother in Blood Wedding, and relishing it (âEvery night, I get to end the show heartbroken!â she exclaims). Ms. Vanasse has been an actress since her elementary schoolâs Christmas show in the second grade: âThe lead role was Santa Claus. And I wanted to be Santa Claus.â (Naturally, she was.)
Ms. Vanasse previously played a glamorous singer in DalTheatreâs first production of the year, While Weâre Young â in fact, the fourth-year acting class had exactly one Sunday off following that play before starting rehearsals for Blood Wedding the next day.
âItâs surreal, experimental⊠Iâve never done anything like it,â says Ms. Vanasse says about Blood Wedding. âWhen I first read the play, I was a little overwhelmed by all the poetry⊠itâs still really overwhelming, because itâs so passionate⊠thereâs a lot of times you have to kind of sit back and ask yourself, âWhat does Lorca mean by this?ââ
While Lorcaâs experimental tendencies were challenging, they were also exhilarating.
âMy favourite is as soon as the play starts getting really surreal⊠all of a sudden, thereâs a sharp change in the play⊠things get wild. The play kind of sucks away everything from you and youâre left with nothing. Itâs so tragic and sad.â
Even while discussing the play's tragedy, however, Ms. Vanasse canât keep the excited grin off her face. âTragedy and comedy are linked closer than people think,â she says â 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 .