BLOOD WEDDING

With his adaptation of Blood Wedding, Iain Sinclair wanted to remain true to the spirit of the Spanish play, expressing emotion, rather than mimicking the original Andalusian culture.

Federico García Lorca’s play was written in 1932, at time when Spain’s culture was reaching a peak that was to be cut short by over four decades of an oppressive dictatorship. A criticism of the pressures of a crippling traditional society over individual desires and ambition, Blood Wedding explores the role of women and motherhood in an Andalusian household.

Adapting such a culture-specific play, Ian Sinclair said, was about focusing on Lorca’s imagery.

“Poetry in English turns into images in literary form; Lorca’s poetry is the emotive…it is actions that actors can feel, rather than just say”.

Working with actors who can carry the weight of Lorca’s emotion was paramount to this production, Sinclair said. In its three acts, the actors will start in their street clothes and gradually become the characters that Lorca wrote.

The play will also incorporate the surreal influence of Lorca’s colleagues, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.

Aug 5-Sep 11, Sydney Theatre Company, Pier 4/5 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, $30-77, 9250 1777, sydneytheatre.com.au

BY HENAR PERALES