Playing the role of Father, James Gillick dances with Hannah Merrell, playing a maid in the SUNY Potsdam production of Federico García Lorca’s “Blood Wedding.”
The SUNY Potsdam Department of Theatre and Dance is proud to present its fall mainstage production, Federico García Lorca’s “Blood Wedding,” translated by Lillian Groag.
Directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Dr. Rivka Rocchio, the 90-minute play is a surreal tragedy about a death-bound love triangle of a bride, bridegroom and Leonardo. Doomed love, fate and revenge hang over the world of the play and the abstracted shadowy characters therein.
The mixture of realism, expressionism and surrealism will leave the audience at the edge of their seats—which, incidentally, will be located on the stage for this unconventional performance.
“Audience members will be seated on the Proscenium Theater stage, watching performers in a play space that ranges from the typical stage, to all around the house and balcony,” Rocchio said. “We chose to use non-traditional staging to create an intimacy between the audience and performers that increases the feeling of tragic inevitability with the story of the doomed lovers. We also hope to use the depth and grandeur of the theater space to evoke those same feelings of awe, expansiveness and loneliness that one experiences in nature.”
“Blood Wedding” will run from Wednesday, Nov. 1 to Sunday, Nov. 5, in the Proscenium Theater, located in SUNY Potsdam’s Performing Arts Center. There will be daily evening performances at 7:30 p.m. from Wednesday, Nov. 1 though Saturday, Nov. 4, with two afternoon matinees offered, at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 4 and 5.
Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for SUNY Potsdam faculty and staff, and $8 for students and senior citizens. Seating is general admission, and the doors will open a half hour before each performance.
To purchase tickets, contact the Community Performance Series Box Office at (315) 267-2277 or www.cpspotsdam.org, or visit the box office, located in the PAC lobby. For more information about this production, contact the Department of Theatre and Dance at (315) 267-2556.
From directing, choreographing, acting and dancing, to designing and technical work, theatre and dance are highly collaborative art forms at SUNY Potsdam. Students and professionals engage in creative problem solving, requiring the setting and meeting of long-term goals, and the analysis and understanding of movement and dramatic literature. For more information about SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Theatre and Dance, visit www.potsdam.edu/theatre.
Founded in 1816, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of only three arts campuses in the entire SUNY system. SUNY Potsdam’s arts curriculum offers the full palette: music, theatre, dance, fine arts and creative writing. No matter the discipline, people from all backgrounds can find their creative compass at Potsdam, with myriad arts immersion experiences available for both campus and community.
Arts & Culture