Blood Wedding/Bodas de Sangre

TheatreUSF presents Blood Wedding/Bodas de Sangre.

By Federico Garcia Lorca

Spring 2011

Directed by Dora Arreola
Scenic Design: Andrew Cohen
Costume Design: Marilyn Gaspardo Bertch
Lighting Design: G.B. Stephens

Read Rachel Kaylor's article in The Oracle.

Watch the interview with The Oracle multimedia reporter Shana Johnson.

Federico García Lorca's great tragedy of death and desire, Blood Wedding/Bodas de Sangre will close the mainstage season of USF's School of Theatre & Dance. Directed by faculty member Dora Arreola, the production will feature alternating performances in Spanish and English performed by two different casts.

Arreola, a recent addition to the School of Theatre & Dance, has a background both in physical theatre and in contemporary dance. "It has been one of my dreams, and now is a pleasure, to be directing Bodas de Sangre/Blood Wedding in both English and Spanish. Rehearsing the text in two languages allows us to understand Blood Wedding from different perspectives. In Spanish we embrace the beauty of the language and the metaphorical world of Lorca's play, while the text in English shows us a fresh perspective. Both allow us to extract into images the movements and emotions of the surrealistic world of Lorca and his artistic contemporaries in Spain.”

A man stands with two women spaced farther apart on either side of him. The woman to the man’s left is looking forlornly downstage while placing her hands gently on a wooden tabletop that has a cup, pitcher, and hat on top of it. The man is looking right toward the woman on his right side and the woman, who is sitting in a chair next to an empty chair while knitting, looks sideways back at the man.

A man and woman stare at each other through a group of colorfully dressed dancers, she is wearing bridal clothes and accessories and he is dressed in a white shirt, vest, and pants as if he is the groom.

A woman sits under a canopy of tree branches playing the violin while surrounded by figures draped in green and brown cloth as if they were dryads.

A photo of all the cast onstage in their costumes.

A man in a white shirt and vibrant red and blue sash stares outward on an oblique angle toward the audience. He has his back pressed against a woman’s, who is wearing a gray and black dress with her palms pressed together as she leers to the side toward the audience.

A man and a creature are having a confrontation under an arbor of trees. The man is wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black pants as he is confronted by a creature that is solid white with a red flower on its head and has three symbols resembling eyes drawn onto the area near its chest. It is holding blankets that are green and brown textured, resembling foliage.

A bride is held by her groom and is looking up at him lovingly, a couple holds each other and watches them happily, slightly out of focus in the background.

A creature that is solid white, covered in drawn symbols and a red flower on top of its head is wearing a cloak that resembles foliage and is holding a closed fist toward a woman who looks visibly frightened. Two women stand behind the creature, one talking and gesturing downward with her index finger while the other holds an unspooled roll of red yarn and looks on with her brow furrowed as if confused.

A character dressed as a crescent moon is illuminated by a spotlight, her hand outstretched under a thin shroud of white fabric that catches the light. This character is wearing white textured fabric and has the moon attached to her at the back.

A man carries a woman in his arms. Her arms ae wrapped around his neck and her face is buried in his neck and he has his eyes closed and mouth ajar, as if he were exclaiming or had been crying.

A woman in a red dress watches a man standing in front of her out of the side of her eyes. The man us staring facing the camera.

A bride and groom hold each other, staring into each other’s eyes lovingly as onlookers look on happily, some gesturing at them and some just standing by.

A woman stands in front of an abstract-shaped yellow doorway, which is positioned next to a yellow chair.

An older man sits next to a woman and man in left to right order, all three sitting in yellow chairs. The older man is stretching his arms out, crossing his legs, and leaning back as if he were tired. The woman and man are watching him.

A woman dressed as a maid stands alone on stage.

A shirtless man holds a woman in a white dress from behind under an overhanging of trees, both looking infatuated with each other.

A man stands in between two women spaced apart on either side of him. The woman to the left of the man is speaking while placing her hands gently on a wooden tabletop that has a cup, pitcher, and hat on top of it. The man stares intensely toward the audience holding a cup while the other woman sits in a chair next to an empty chair while knitting.