Blood wedding

The class of Art 203 Artistic Forms of Expression at the American University in Dubai performs a Frederico Garcia Lorca play that explores the creative process.

W ell-loved poet of the Spanish-speaking world and one of the most powerful dramatists in modern theatre, Federico Garcia Lorca's (1898-1936) tragic play Blood Wedding came to life in an adaptation by students of the American University in Dubai recently.

Directed by Sam Bardaouil, visiting assistant professor and course tutor of Art 203 Artistic Forms of Expression, Blood Wedding was the culmination of an intensive three-month study and the group project by the students involved in it.

"Words, movements, sounds and images come to life in the total act of theatre. Performers, designers and the audience come together to share in the telling of a story," says Sam Bardaouil.

And how well they told that story!

The students of various disciplines at AUD - from the cast, the troupe, the artistic and the technical crew to the various teams that worked on design and publicity, costume design, set design, fund raising and box office - performed an almost professional presentation of the play.

Zainab Hassan, one of the members of the cast and a costume designer for the play says: "Whatever we have learned during our Art 203 course with Sam, we have used in this play. The lighting, music, design, sets and everything else we did to put up this play we got the complete support of our professors and other staff of the university."

Under the guidance of their tutor, each student who contributed to make the play a memorable one, can be proud of what they achieved on the evenings of April 16 and 17 at the AUD auditorium.

The set and lighting effects gave more energy and sparkle to Blood Wedding. The cast and crew, who received a standing ovation from the audience, really deserved it.

This was a truly commendable attempt that Garcia Lorca himself would have approved.