Spanish dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca’s classic tale of passion, love, lust and yearning is being staged at the Manoel Theatre this weekend.
The best part of any production is always the sense of community and camaraderie established with the cast and crew
Over the course of this tragedy, we join an insular and tiny and gossipy village that is preparing to celebrate the arranged marriage between two well-off families.
The Bride knows that this is something she should be happy with. But she is still trying to suffocate a passion for a past lover she has not managed to forget.
The plot thickens when her past lover turns up on the morning of her wedding, asking her to rethink her impending marriage vows as he too never managed to stop loving her. Walking up the aisle, she is torn between fulfilling her duty and throwing everything away for her one true love.
According to prolific director Simone Spiteri, Blood Wedding lends itself to everything that she wanted to experiment with, including working with an ensemble rather than the conventional ‘part per actor’ formula; working with live musicians; being creative and imaginative ; and – more importantly – telling a tale which is universal and valid to contemporary society, particularly in Malta, which is always in danger of falling prey to its own insularity and isolation – two very important and central themes in the play.
Spiteri says that the best part of any production is always the sense of community and camaraderie established with the cast and crew:
“I involve my production team from day one, and they are present at all rehearsals because I think that they are as important as anyone who is on the visible side (to the audience) of the stage. The only ‘downside’ of this production was its sheer scale... we are so many people that planning a rehearsal feels like a military operation sometimes!”
Spiteri says that she thinks the production has something to offer to every kind of theatrical palate out there: from energetic huge scenes to small intimate moments between characters that pull at their heartstrings. She says she has a director’s dream for a cast, as well as fantastic music composed by local band Stalko and an amazing set by Pierre Portelli.
It took Spiteri five months to cast this play. In the end, she says she managed to assemble a group of 16 people who she thinks are simply fantastic – Josette Ciappara (who makes her return to the stage after many years of absence), Ninette Micallef, Charles Sammut, Pia Zammit, Toni Attard, Lizzie Eldridge, Chris Galea, Chantelle Micallef Grimaud, Dave Persiva, Vee Stivala, Joseph Zammit, Marta Vella, Karl Cassar, Marie Keiser- Nielsen, Ruth Borg and Maia Buttigieg.
“We’re a mixture of people with different theatre experiences and backgrounds and this makes it very exciting,” she smiles.
Eldridge says she is very excited to be performing in one of her favourite plays by one of her favourite writers, especially since she actually wrote about the first production of Blood Wedding in her novel, Duende, in which Lorca appears as a character.
“Simone’s direction is second to none and she understands the play with all its intricate details. Seeing the play come alive and being part of it is quite an incredible experience,” she says enthusiastically.
Vee Stivala plays a number of characters including a giddy, young girl:
“As with all the characters in the play, Lorca doesn’t like this silly girl very much, and neither do I,” laughs Stivala, “so my main challenge is to get myself into the mind frame of someone I’m not: this somewhat frivolous and flighty young pest. Ultimately though, it’s awe-inspiring to see our director’s beautiful vision of this rural tragedy come to life. That’s the best part by far.”
• Blood Wedding is being performed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm. Tickets may be obtained by calling 2124 6389, by e-mail: bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt or http://teatrumanoel.com.mt .