‘Blood Wedding’ opens at Gavilan College
Long after Shakespeare took his turn at writing sorrowful prose,
a Spanish playwright tried his hand at tragedies. Gavilan College
students and staff are taking the stage through April 8 in Federico
Garcia Lorca’s play
”
Blood Wedding.
”
The script tells the tale of love triangle in which all involved
meet a morbid fate.
‘Blood Wedding’ opens at Gavilan College
Long after Shakespeare took his turn at writing sorrowful prose, a Spanish playwright tried his hand at tragedies. Gavilan College students and staff are taking the stage through April 8 in Federico Garcia Lorca’s play “Blood Wedding.” The script tells the tale of love triangle in which all involved meet a morbid fate.
Lorca based his play, which is set in 1933 Spain, on a newspaper article he read. In the article, a young bride in Andalusia, Spain, left her groom on the day of their wedding to run off with her childhood sweetheart. “Blood Wedding,” retells the story with a tragic ending and the use of Lorca’s words at poetry.
The play centers on the gride, her childhood sweetheart, the groom and the groom’s mother.
The bride, a girl who grew up without a mother, is resigned to let go of the past and marry the man to whom she is engaged. The groom’s mother, by contrast, can’t stop wallowing in the sorrow caused by the death of her husband and son.
“Lorca doesn’t really write a lot of weak women,” said David Chavez, the director, during a rehearsal.
Mary Isabel de Anda, a Gavilan theater major, plays the role of the bride. She has been acting since 1996, when she joined El Teatro Campesino. She decided to study theater in Spring 2005, when she enrolled at Gavilan College. Despite her many acting experiences, the Lorca role has been one of her most challenging.
“I didn’t like the character when I tried out and I didn’t think I would get it,” de Anda said. “In one scene I end up trembling and on the verge of tears. The character is so complicated. She has layers and I don’t think we can find the truth unless we relate in some way.”
With a few rehearsals left to go, de Anda said she was still struggling to get the character right.
“I feel like cardboard on stage sometimes and I’m wondering if that is what I am supposed to be feeling,” she told the director when they went over notes from a previous rehearsal.
“We can’t go too far with emotion. This story is spelled out as a tragedy,” Chavez said. “We have to like the characters for the tragedy to work.”
Andrew Juncker, a Gavilan staff member, plays the role of the ill-fated groom and Rosa Maria Escalante plays his mother.
“I’ve been on tech [crew],” Juncker said. “But I haven’t done theater in 10 years.”
Much of his time on stage is spent with the well-versed Escalante. Escalante is a guest artist for the production of “Blood Wedding” and is a long-time member of El Teatro Campesino. She most recently appeared as Margarita Villasenor in “Rain of Gold” at the Western Stage in Salinas.
Escalante is joined by another theater veteran in the latest stage show at the community college. Carol Briggs, a former college trustee, is the Moon in Lorca’s play. Briggs has appeared in more than 40 productions at Gavilan College since 1979. But the 78-year-old said he doesn’t get any special privileges in the shows.
“I feel like I need to be an example. It is important to be on time, whether I am needed or not,” he said. “I audition for the roles just like everybody else.”
Briggs mostly plays ensemble roles, but has been the lead in past plays. He has the role of the Moon in the current stage production.
“The part of the moon is fantastic,” Briggs said. “I am a poet and I love reading poetry. That part has some of Lorca’s great poetry.”
DETAILS:
“Blood Wedding” by Federico Garcia Lorca plays at Gavilan College Theatre, 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd., at 8 p.m., April 1, 6, 7 and 8. Tickets are $8 for children and seniors, $10 for students and $12 general admission. For tickets, call 408-846-4973.
