Sydney Theatre Company presents
Blood Wedding
by Federico Garcia Lorca
Translated by Iain Sinclair

Blood Wedding begins with a son announcing his intention to marry. News to be celebrated by all but his mother, whose joy is smothered by a terrible feeling of fear and foreboding. His intended is good, modest and hardworking. So why does the utterance of this sweet girl’s name feel like a rock in his mother’s face?

History pulses through the veins of the tiny rural community; the passions and blood shed in its past cannot be washed away with water. While the mother is haunted by ghosts of the past, her would be daughter-in-law is gripped by a phantom of her own. An all-consuming lust has taken possession of the girl, bringing with it the threat of humiliation, vilification and ultimately destruction.

Dramatising the brutal struggle between a socially sanctioned relationship and an all-engulfing erotic desire, Blood Wedding exposes the power that society has to stifle individuality. It is a play of exquisite beauty that nods to Shakespeare, Lope de Vega and the other playwrights of the Spanish Golden Age while also possessing the surreal , poetic qualities and emotional fervour that characterise Lorca’s writing.

Director, Iain Sinclair says that this production ‘will take a clear-eyed view of the deep misogyny in ancient life and shine a bright light on the corners of contemporary life where ancient evils still flourish’. Primal and immediate, Iain’s new adaptation reaches beyond the pastoral imagery to grasp at the menacingly dark heart of the story.

WHARF 1
Schools Day Wed 17 August
Pre-show Intro 10:30am, 45 minutes
Performance 12:15pm
Duration 1 Hour 50 Minutes, no interval
Post-show Q&A immediately following, 15 minutes

Content Adult themes

Suits Years 9 - 12

Cost $21/student

Curriculum Links: 
Drama - Elements of Drama: Symbol

English - Language and Gender

Cross-curriculum - Gender

Resources:  Comprehensive student and teacher resources provided