Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca

Blood Wedding (or Bodas de Sangra as it's known in Spanish) is a play by Lorca that is often grouped with Yerma and The House of Bernada Alba. These form a group of passionate and earthy texts, sometimes known as The Rural Trilogy. I have always been drawn to the play for two reasons – firstly the script is based on Lorca's creation of drama and conflict, inspired by a true story of a fatal feud between two families in the Almeria province. In my experience, students are really engaged by a ‘real story’, (particularly with the scandalous themes involved), and this has certainly been true with Blood Wedding. The second magnetic draw with Blood Wedding is the symbolism and imagery in the language used. This is Lorca at his poetic best and the characters of the Moon, the Woodcutters and Death (the beggar) are surreal and almost mythological, adding a supernatural edge to this human story.