Blood Wedding

Blood Wedding is a tragedy in verse and prose by the Spanish writer Federico García Lorca written in 1931. It premiered on March 8, 1933 at the Beatriz Theater in Madrid by the Josefina Díaz and Manuel Collado Company and set design by Santiago Ontañón. In 1938 it was made into a film by Edmundo Guibourg, with Margarita Xirgu as the protagonist.

Story and plot

It is a poetic and theatrical production that focuses on the analysis of a tragic feeling. From the ancient and the modern, in the way of seeing the tragedy. All this framed in a tragic and universal Andalusian landscape through feelings expressed by each of the characters.

The main theme of this great drama is life and death. But in an arcane and ancestral way, in which myths, legends and landscapes appear that introduce the reader into a world of dark passions that lead to jealousy, persecution and the tragic end: death. Love stands out as the only force that can defeat her.

The work reflects the customs of the author's land, which still persist. All this from symbolic objects that announce the tragedy. The obsession with the dagger, the knife and the razor is constant in Lorca's work, which in Blood Weddings attract fascination and, at the same time, presage death. In addition to the natural elements that also stand out like the moon.

The tragic and real events on which Lorca's work could be based occurred on July 22, 1928 in the Cortijo del Fraile (in Níjar, in the province of Almería). Lorca found out about them through the press, although the writer and activist from Almería Carmen de Burgos, originally from Níjar, had already written a short novel about the event before Bodas de sangre, called Puñal de carnations, which was also an inspiration for the author from Granada.

This historical event links two well-known characters from the town, Paquita la coma and her cousin.

Characters

Main

• The boyfriend: A little naive, but at the same time very passionate. He is not willing to take away the one he loves, his girlfriend, and in this same passion finds his ideal love.
• The bride: Impulsive, passionate and indecent woman. He says to be dragged by a force, to escape with Leonardo, or not to slash it with impure.
• Leonardo: Passionate, vigorous, deeply in love with the girl who doesn't suit her. He was not ashamed to leave his wife or son to escape with the Bride. He is married to the bride's cousin, which in a way deprives him and in turn increases his desire.
• The mother: It appears throughout the work and provides information necessary for your understanding. Struggler woman of a strong character and attached to the earth. She opposes the use of weapons, as because of these she lost her other son and her husband in a rash.

Secondaries

• The wife of Leonardo: You perfectly understand your husband's desire for his cousin. Try to avoid it as you can, unsuccessful.
• The Moon: It appears in the scene of the forest, the most poetic of the work, as a young wooder with the white face. Through the illumination it gives (a theatrical element that is emphasized several times by the accompaniments of the work, in which the intense blue light that should be projected when the character appears), plays a role of "helpful of death", as it intervenes in the tragic end of the two men.
• Death: It also appears in the woods as a mendiga, barefoot and fully covered by dark green cloths. This character does not appear in the cast. Join the Bride in search of Leonardo and the Bride. He comes to Leonardo's funeral and the Bride.
• The father of the bride: Old man who loves his daughter as much as he knows her. He knows that she thinks of Leonardo and not his boyfriend, but wants to put together the assets of both families and have grandchildren working the lands.

Symbols

• The horse: It usually symbolizes virility, masculinity. Probably the most significant mention of this symbol is found in the nana singing La Suegra and La Mujer in the second painting of the first act. In this, through the use of the horse, a tragic irony is created that ruins the fatal outcome of the work.
• The moon: The moon is a recurring element in García Lorca's work, symbolizing death most of the time. Example of this is the "Romance of the Moon", which appears in the Romancero Gitano. In Blood balls not only is it associated with death, but it is directly linked to the violence and blood flow that this implies.
• The Knife: Death and threat.
• The Mendiga: Death.
• The Azhar Crown: It symbolizes commitment and honor.

First edition in book

Due to the great success of its staging, this was the only play by Federico García Lorca published in book format during the author's lifetime:

Blood wedding. Tragedy in three acts and seven scenes. Madrid: Cruz y Raya magazine – Editorial El Árbol, 1935 (the colophon is dated 1936). Edition in minor 4th (23 cm.), covered with flaps. 125 pgs. + 1 hr. First edition limited to 1100 copies.

Main Stage Versions

Blood balls, Principal Palace Theatre. Barcelona, November 22, 1935. Decorated and figurines by José Caballero. Scenic direction of Cipriano Rivas Cherif. From left to right: Enrique Diosdado, Julia Pacheco, Margarita Xirgu, Amelia de la Torre and José Cañizares

In addition to the original productions by Josefina Díaz, Lola Membrives and Margarita Xirgu (in Barcelona), the following can be mentioned chronologically:

• Blood balls, opera by Juan José Castro premiered at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, 1956.
• Chronicle of the Blood Wedding Event, original ballet title known as Blood balls of the Spanish dancer and choreographer Antonio Gades. It was premiered in Rome in 1974 and taken to the cinema in 1981, in collaboration with Carlos Saura.
• The Afro-Caribbean Blood Wedding (2015) escennico-musical version of Marvin Huise, premiered by the Black Theatre of Barlovento, in the "Juana Sujo" Hall of the Artist's House, in the framework of the IV Festival of Teatro de Caracas.

Filmography

• Blood balls, film by Argentina directed in 1938 by Edmundo Guibourg with Margarita Xirgu and Pedro López Lagar, music by Juan José Castro.
• Blood balls, Moroccan film directed in 1977 by Souheil Ben-Barka.
• Blood balls, film musical directed in 1981 by Carlos Saura from the ballet of Antonio Gades.
• The bride, adaptation by Paula Ortiz starring Inma Cuesta, Álex García, Asier Etxeandía, Luisa Gavasa (Goya a Mejor actress de cast) and Leticia Dolera.

Operas

• 1956 - Blood balls – opera by Juan José Castro
• 1957 - Bluthochzeit Wolfgang Fortner Opera
• 1964 - Vérnász – opera by Sándor Szokolay
• 1992 - Blood Wedding, opera by Nicola LeFanu