Frederico Garcia Lorca’s classic tragedy Blood Wedding is a towering piece of theatre.
A wedding is the centre of the narrative. But, as the title suggests, this is no cause for relaxed celebration. Rather, it unleashes a storm of passions – anguish, rage, family conflict, betrayal and revenge – as the bride struggles with her residual feelings for a former lover.
Written in 1932, the play is admired and performed around the globe. Although it deals with visceral and timeless emotions, Blood Wedding also has a sense of time and place.
Originally set in the rawness and claustrophobia of rural Spain, this new production at Clapham’s Omnibus Theatre, updates the dialogue and reimagines characters as contemporary South Londoners. That the story unfolds in a Spanish restaurant is a nod in the direction of its birthplace.
George Richmond-Scott is the director, and Racheal Ofori, a young actor from South London, plays the bride. I met them on set to talk about the production.
Ofori, believes her role exemplifies some of the major themes, but also explores more nuanced issues around heritage and culture, femininity and patriarchy. It is a complex picture. Although the bride is torn and grieving, it’s significant for Ofori, that she is not a passive victim of events.
How to uproot this tension and sense of being trapped from Spain in the 1930s and bring them to life in London in 2018 is one of the main challenges of the role. Richmond-Scott aims to remain true to the “integrity and poetry of the text and the inner lives of the characters” but “to bring them closer to the audience” and “to recreate the emotions in a different environment”.
His adaptation seeks to illuminate the lives of people in South London today, using original music and strong physical work.
The play opens on 4 September and runs until 23 September in the Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside, SW4 0QW. Tickets: bit.ly/Omnibus-BW or 020 7498 4699.
