Anyone who read Macbeth in high school knows the basics of the tragic play: it’s long, heavy, and ominous, and its costumes and sets echo its grim themes. A colorful, lively set design and outlandish costumes are probably not what you’d see in the typical performance of Les Miserables. But, as director and professor Nadia Madhi explains, her interpretation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding—which tells of a scandalous love triangle between enemy families—is intended to be anything but the typical tragedy.
“I [imagined] it as a celebration of the fun, of the humor, as well as the darker, more complicated side,” Madhi said, “rather than imagining it as one really inexorable, plodding progression towards gloom and doom.”
As curtain time draws nearer, Blood Wedding—Madhi’s directorial debut at Georgetown—is poised to fulfill her vision in more ways than she anticipated. The show, which runs from Oct. 14 to 23 in the Divine Studio Theater at the Davis Center for Performing Arts, is a collaborative effort between the University’s professional production team, a talented group of theater majors, and an equally talented group from outside of the College. Two cast members, Vivian Cook (COL ’13) and Daniel Hrebenak (SFS ’12) auditioned with pieces of original music, which impressed Madhi so much that she incorporated them into the performance. “[Cook’s] song sounded like it should be in the show, and now it is,” Madhi said. “And [Hrebenak] has become essentially another designer, from the musical perspective.”
Theater majors were required to help produce the play, even though the show is department-run and -directed. So it was a pleasant surprise, Madhi said, that the presence from non-theater majors at auditions was substantial, and their contributions to the play were significant. (scoopsindia.com)
“We’ve got a lot of talented people at our disposal,” Jimmy Lacey (MSB ‘11) said. Lacey is making his Georgetown theater debut in Blood Wedding in one of the lead roles.
Even the stage itself is on the unconventional side. The show is performed in the round, meaning that the square stage is surrounded by audience members sitting in risers on all four sides.
“It makes you really feel like you’re in the middle of the action,” Lacey said.
With tech rehearsals beginning this week, Blood Wedding is still very much a work in progress. But based on what the cast and crew has already accomplished, it seems that the show is going to be a unique, powerful contribution to the Davis Center’s fall season.
