Lorca's play is stylised and almost balletic, crying out - so it has always seemed to me - for a rather surreal, totally non-realistic presentation. The characters are little more than voices, quasi-operatic types rather than individuals, while the text often virtually demands a musical setting or background - and in fact, the performance at the Old Vic last September put strong emphasis on musical accompaniment. Ted Hughes's version is spare, condensed and direct, though a little lacking in the sensuous musicality of Lorca's verse, rooted in Andalusian folk song.
Blood Wedding, by Federice Garcia Lorca, in a version by Ted Hughes (Faber, £6.99 in UK)
Lorca's play is stylised and almost balletic, crying out - so it has always seemed to me - for a rather surreal, totally non-…
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