First Maria Ensemble, in collaboration with Cambalache Theatre Company, present Bodas de Blood, a new bilingual (English/Spanish) adaptation of Blood Wedding (Bodas de Sangre) by Federico García Lorca. The tragedy is newly adapted and directed by Celeste Moratti, Founding Director of First Maria Ensemble. It is performed by an international ensemble with actors from Argentina, Italy, Poland, Colombia, Venezuela, Armenia, the Netherlands and the USA and features live music by two Italian musicians, Francesco Santalucia and Papaceccio.
Lorca's Blood Wedding is a poetic tragedy set in rural Spain, exploring themes of love, passion, honor and fate. The Bride is torn between her duty to marry a respectable man (the Groom) and her lingering love for Leonardo, her former lover, who is now married. On the day of the wedding, Leonardo and the Bride flee together. Pursued by the Groom and his friends, they take refuge in a forest. At this point, the play takes a deadly expressionistic turn. Allegorical figures of the Moon and death appear, and the Groom and Leonardo kill each other. The play ends in grief and mourning as Lorca delves into the inevitable cycles of love, death and human suffering.
In this adaptation, the mixture of English and Spanish reflects the increasing importance of multilingual narratives in a globalized world. It mirrors how cultures interact, overlap and influence each other in contemporary society. The international casting underscores the universality of Lorca's themes—passion, fate and societal constraints—highlighting the ways these issues transcend national boundaries. The bilingual adaptation reflects dualities inherent in the play: life and death, love and duty, freedom and restriction. Audiences are invited to navigate linguistic and emotional divides, fostering a deeper engagement with the text.
