While the Spanish music and the brilliantly crafted set (the whole stage turned into scorched earth under an orange sky) conjure up Southern heat and passion, the interpretive dance piece that opened the play left me cold. The dancing just isn't good enough, or choreographed well enough, to justify its place on the stage. We are then introduced to the Mother (Morgan Cambs) and the Groom (Jack Baggs) in a lengthy scene mainly consisting of the Mother droning on about how macho violence has taken her husband and elder son from her. While the anti-violence message is obviously an important one (especially considering how Blood Wedding was written just years before the civil war that devastated Spain), the Mother is a very unsympathetic character. I hate to say it, but I find Morgan Cambs quite annoying anyway, so the combination of her and this character wasn't fun to watch. As for Jack Baggs, he's good enough, there's nothing to dislike about him, but he has lost that spark which made him stand out in O Go My Man. Perhaps it's because his character is a bit of a sap, who doesn't notice until it's too late that his bride's heart belongs to someone else. That someone else is Leonardo (Tomos Harries, who you may recognise from the film Hunky Dory). Again, he's alright, but he doesn't quite bring across the passion of a man who loves a woman so much he's willing to ruin everything to be with her. As the Bride, Aysha Kala certainly looks the part, a mixture of innocence and beauty, but her acting feels like watching Eastenders. It seems to me that it is easier to be believable in a contemporary play, while the weight of a classic poses more of a challenge. There is a tendency to over-enunciate, or to shout to create meaning, and that's what Kala especially does (though she's not alone).
On a more positive note, Oliver Llewellyn-Jenkins really impressed me again. His part (the Father of the Bride) was a small one, but he played it to perfection. Very natural. Charlie Langdell (Leonardo's Wife) too was as great as ever. She is just so alluring, with her beautiful voice, doe eyes and genuine talent. As for the rest of the cast, they all did well in rather minor roles. Robbie Lester was adequately menacing, mooching around the stage for most of the play as the shadow of death. I particularly liked Gillian Saker's energy as the Young Girl. Emily Hargreaves (Leonardo's Mother-in-Law) revealed a sweet singing voice, but again didn't shine as she did in O Go My Man. Moving away from the cast, set designer Madeline Girling deserves praise not only for the general design described above, but particularly for the design of the wedding feast that opens Act Two. The red carnations strung across the stage were beautiful.
I wanted to love Blood Wedding, I really did. But it is a difficult piece, which despite a few stand-out performances just doesn't play to the strengths of the cast.
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