Nathan L. , Yelp.com
( http://www.yelp.com/biz/blood-wedding-austin )
Love. Hate. Passion. Betrayal. A typical Friday night out at the bars for me, but also the major themes running through "Blood Wedding" (Bodas de Sangre), a tragic play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Written in 1932, it has now been adapted in 2011 by The Wondrous Strange Players, an acting troupe that will be putting on the show here in Austin, TX at the Community Renaissance Market Theater.
I was invited by my friend Trey, after he had read my impressions of other local plays I attended over the summer. He basically cut to the chase and said: "On our opening night, I want to see YOU in the audience". He sent me to their website and I made plans to be there, since that's usually when there's all that "opening night" electricity in the air.
The Community Renaissance Market was at first, admittedly, a venue I was completely unfamiliar with. That is until I drove up and realized it was that south side market with a variety of locally owned micro-businesses; it's basically an air-conditioned hub for Austin's thriving "Buy Local" initiatives.
[...]
Black curtains cordon off the stage and seating area from the rest of the market, and if I thought Zach Scott was an intimate setting, then compared to that space we were almost sitting in the actors' laps. We were instructed not to leave until intermission, as the actors would be making various entrances from each side. It's a reasonable request, because I could remember pondering at other theaters how one would even be able to go to the bathroom during the performance since there were always people lined up waiting for their cue.
The play is divided into three acts and two intermissions, but the total run time is about equal to that of one with just two acts. The story follows a love triangle that ends up with what can only be described as the wedding reception from Hell. When I described the plot to my mother the day before, she abruptly blurted out "Oh--that's García Lorca!" Apparently her Spanish teacher loved the playwright and had drilled all his works into their heads during her upper level Spanish literature courses. She said it would probably be really dramatic and ethereal, and that's exactly how it turned out.
My friend Austen Simien played Leonardo, The Bride's old lover who is now married to another, but still madly in love with her. The Bride, played by Cameron Holmes, feigns that she doesn't love him back, but as with all good tragedies--of course she does. In short, if these people had computers, they'd still be Facebook stalking each other even after they'd both changed their relationship statuses. Ms. Holmes pulls off "stressed out" quite well, and she can do a mean cry, too. I also enjoyed the performance by Terrie Cooper as The Mother, whose son gets stood up by The Bride; her scenes at the end were especially well done. There's a lot of symbolism (a lullaby at the beginning metaphorically spells out the upcoming events). and some larger themes such as the role of women in society (The Mother explains to The Groom that if The Bride ever doesn't want to hit the sack, he has a right to press the issue because he's a dude. Ladies, your thoughts?). There's also moments of a capella singing, done especially well by Kat Eason as The Bridesmaid.
In the director's thanks on the program, there's a shout out to the venue for "allowing a lot of crazy theatre people to do what they love". And that's what you're paying to see. I'd also recommend it to those especially familiar with the works of García Lorca, as the poetry is quite beautiful even in English. "Blood Wedding" is like the theatrical equivalent of live music in Austin; it's people working on their craft, no matter how big or small the venue, and having fun doing so.
Love. Hate. Passion. Betrayal. A typical Friday night out at the bars for me, but also the major themes running through "Blood Wedding" (Bodas de Sangre), a tragic play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Written in 1932, it has now been adapted in 2011 by The Wondrous Strange Players, an acting troupe that will be putting on the show here in Austin, TX at the Community Renaissance Market Theater.
I was invited by my friend Trey, after he had read my impressions of other local plays I attended over the summer. He basically cut to the chase and said: "On our opening night, I want to see YOU in the audience". He sent me to their website and I made plans to be there, since that's usually when there's all that "opening night" electricity in the air.
The Community Renaissance Market was at first, admittedly, a venue I was completely unfamiliar with. That is until I drove up and realized it was that south side market with a variety of locally owned micro-businesses; it's basically an air-conditioned hub for Austin's thriving "Buy Local" initiatives.
[...]
Black curtains cordon off the stage and seating area from the rest of the market, and if I thought Zach Scott was an intimate setting, then compared to that space we were almost sitting in the actors' laps. We were instructed not to leave until intermission, as the actors would be making various entrances from each side. It's a reasonable request, because I could remember pondering at other theaters how one would even be able to go to the bathroom during the performance since there were always people lined up waiting for their cue.
The play is divided into three acts and two intermissions, but the total run time is about equal to that of one with just two acts. The story follows a love triangle that ends up with what can only be described as the wedding reception from Hell. When I described the plot to my mother the day before, she abruptly blurted out "Oh--that's García Lorca!" Apparently her Spanish teacher loved the playwright and had drilled all his works into their heads during her upper level Spanish literature courses. She said it would probably be really dramatic and ethereal, and that's exactly how it turned out.
My friend Austen Simien played Leonardo, The Bride's old lover who is now married to another, but still madly in love with her. The Bride, played by Cameron Holmes, feigns that she doesn't love him back, but as with all good tragedies--of course she does. In short, if these people had computers, they'd still be Facebook stalking each other even after they'd both changed their relationship statuses. Ms. Holmes pulls off "stressed out" quite well, and she can do a mean cry, too. I also enjoyed the performance by Terrie Cooper as The Mother, whose son gets stood up by The Bride; her scenes at the end were especially well done. There's a lot of symbolism (a lullaby at the beginning metaphorically spells out the upcoming events). and some larger themes such as the role of women in society (The Mother explains to The Groom that if The Bride ever doesn't want to hit the sack, he has a right to press the issue because he's a dude. Ladies, your thoughts?). There's also moments of a capella singing, done especially well by Kat Eason as The Bridesmaid.
In the director's thanks on the program, there's a shout out to the venue for "allowing a lot of crazy theatre people to do what they love". And that's what you're paying to see. I'd also recommend it to those especially familiar with the works of García Lorca, as the poetry is quite beautiful even in English. "Blood Wedding" is like the theatrical equivalent of live music in Austin; it's people working on their craft, no matter how big or small the venue, and having fun doing so.
