Barney Norris’ Blood Wedding opens next week at Clapham’s Omnibus Theatre
Blood Wedding by Barney Norris opens next week, receiving its London Premiere at Clapham’s Omnibus Theatre from Wednesday 30 April – Saturday 24 May, presented by Two’s Company and Karl Sydow in association with Tilly Films.
The dark comedy brings Lorca’s passionate Spanish classic blazing into today’s England. Tension runs high in a village on the edge of Salisbury Plain as the happy anticipation of a wedding suddenly turns ominous. Georgie, 22 and the bride-to-be, is torn between her fiancé Rob and her ex, Lee. The seeds of disaster are sown.
Inspired by Frederico Garcia Lorca’s play, Barney Norris brings us bang up-to-date with the dreams and fears of any young couple today. Do we ever dare to do what is in our hearts, do ‘one pure thing’?
Norris’ adaptation expertly combines comedy and tragedy. Norris said: “I think comedy makes us feel things more deeply. Comedy activates us. And comedy is the English ‘duende’. Lorca wrote extensively about this – the word loosely means ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’, and it’s what he’s writing about in Blood Wedding, the ‘duende’ that comes up from the soil of Spain through the soles of the feet into the hearts of people. We have duende, too. It’s not very like the Spanish duende, though. I think it’s made of laughter.”
Blood Wedding is directed by Tricia Thorns, with set design by Alex Marker, costume design by Carla Joy Evans, lighting design by Neill Brinkworth and sound design by Dominic Bilkey.
The cast includes Alix Dunmore (Sister Boniface TV, The 39 Steps, West End), David Fielder (The Cleaner TV, As You Like It RSC, Small Island National Theatre, Esme Lonsdale (Arthur’s Whisky Feature film), Kiefer Moriarty (Around the world in 80 days-ish, The Velveteen Rabbit feature film, Magic goes Wrong UK tour), Christopher Neenan in his professional debutand Nell Williams (Game of Thrones, Young Sherlock TV, Huntington feature film).
Blood Wedding is generously supported by the Boris Karloff Charitable Foundation, the John S Cohen Foundation and the Unity Theatre Trust.