Reader Reviews
Blood Wedding (Almeida Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Dreadful. The acting, script and direction were all dire - the only thing to be said for it was the set! What on earth were the Almeida doing putting this on in the first place? Staggeringly over acted to the point of becoming a macabre pantomime. Surely black actors deserve to be given better material, which does not patronise or pigeon hole them, than this. And one other thing what was it with the clunky accents? It was an African 'ello 'ello. The incredibly slow response to applaud at the close of the first act tonight was a clear sign of what the audience thought of it. - rds | 21 May 10 |
| Pants. Wish I'd listened to addictedtotheatre. - 195.188.208.240) | 13 Jun 05 |
| The multinational casting, simple but stunning visual effects and potent use of music gave Lorca's difficult rural tragedy a universality that it doesn't always achieve. Tanya Ronder's terse translation may miss some of the poetry of the original but is still very effective. Gael Garcia Bernal may be only one in a clutch of strong performances but he proves his mettle as a stage actor (he has an unexpectedly resonant voice for stage work) and, on a shallow note, he is jawdroppingly beautiful! Without him, this probably wouldn't be the sell out that it is of course, but Rufus Norris proves yet again that he is a director of striking originality and vision. An obscure but powerful treat. - 195.82.123.181) | 31 May 05 |
| As a Spaniard myself,I think that no translation can give justice to Garcia Lorca poetic and dramatic spanish.Also the production fails in all counts to mirror the atmosphere of the hot southern spanish sun and caracters.The casting of Gael Garcia Bernal,much trumpeted and sure sell-out,is completely wrong.A failure....in my view. - 195.194.75.209) | 17 May 05 |
| Having witnessed the rubbish of Bernarda Alba at the NT (surely produced by British tourists on holiday at the Costa del Sol!) this is truly a breath of fresh air. It was outstanding, the production digs at the heart of the play and it takes all sorts of risks to bring it to life. Well done! And shame to all the other cynical productions more concerned with appealing to the middle ground. This is one of Lorca’s hardest plays to stage, and the Almeida’s production makes it resonate. - 195.92.67.70) | 15 May 05 |
| A highly inventive production - stylised rather than realistic - which holds you from beginning to end. It's not a star vehicle but an ensemble piece and the 'cocktail' of Mexican, Dutch, Icelandic, Irish, Welsh, Portuguese, English et al turns a latin smoulderer into an anywhere tale. More true to the spirit of Lorca that the National's Bernarda Alba, yet a fresh perspective on the play. - 81.134.196.124) | 15 May 05 |
| A Bloody Waste. I was resolutely unmoved by this production. The translation was more poetic than the David Hare go at 'Bernanda Alba' but the director threw in so many silly theatrical flourishes that the text was lost. Throw in some very strange performances by a cast that have a wide range of accents (Irish, Portugese, even Icelandic) and you have a less than evening that reminds one of a student production. Bernal was completely wasted, and again a strange (not Hispanic) accent that made him swallow the end of his words. Sell your tickets and save your money. - 86.129.111.160) | 14 May 05 |
