At Theatr Pena |
| Theatr Pena- Dark Love and Deep Song , The Riverfront, Newport , February 18, 2012 |
In one of his poems, the Spanish writer Lorca gently chides the sun for its illusion of 'making the garden technicolor'.Lorca's element was lunar, his meaningful colours circumscribed - the red of blood and the orange of love, the green of desire. Blood and death, tears and tragedy, love and longing - these were the staples of his agonising art, and over thirty samples of it were delivered in song, poetry and dramatic snippet at this recital by Theatr Pena. The Welsh group was formed to give professional female actors the chance to locate 'meaty' stage roles which explore womanly concerns. They launched themselves with Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba. This week's was the first of two lunchtime appearances before the whole company returns in June with Jean Genet's The Maids in a Riverfront co-production. The readings were punctuated by Lorca songs and the complete Seven Popular Spanish Songs of Manuel de Falla, sung by mezzo Buddug Verona James, with Caradog Williams at the piano. Ms James's was an object lesson in how the recitalist should insinuate herself into the mood of the piece, be it lullaby, dance, narrative or lamentation. These were songs enacted with full dramatic flourish and finish. And the readers - Kathryn Dimery, Erica Eirian, Betsan Llwyd, Hannah O'Leary and Olwen Rees - took their cues from her, their recitations as colourful as their portrayals in extracts from Lorca’s plays Yerma and Blood Wedding. Ms O’Leary directed and several of the translations were by Gwynne Edwards. Lorca's murder by Spanish nationalists in the 1930s is still a bleeding wound in the history of Iberian culture and sensibility. Much of his work almost foreshadows it. The women here are mostly fibrous. Being female is not the least of their problems, for there are men on the horizon and at the door. And it was the sense of that which rose repeatedly from these committed readings. Look out for War Songs at the Riverfront on Wednesday March 14 at 1pm. |
Reviewed by: Nigel Jarrett |
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