A chilling, tumultuous 'Blood Wedding'

The Philadelphia Artists' Collective could have set their Blood Wedding on a huge mound of dirt. Or in the bowels of the sea, or the boiling surf of a volcano. That's how rooted in the earth and nature Federico Garcia Lorca's 1932 play remains - so much so that even today, in this inventive production filled with song, dance, and poetry, it startles in its passion and violence.

Lorca's revenge tale pits rival families and two lovers at the culmination, and potential reconciliation, of a decades-old feud. Themes that Shakespeare colored prettily with Romeo and Juliet, Lorca splatters with the filth and chaos of animal desire that lies just beneath the surface of social convention. An anthropologist, an evolutionary biologist, and a psychologist could feud endlessly over competing interpretations of this play. And if you can't tell by now how much I enjoyed it, well . . . .

Blood Wedding also marks the first time the Philadelphia Artists' Collective is working inside an actual theater space. Damon Bonetti's production, however, eschews any sense of artifice or distance the Mandell Theater's proscenium might provide. The long, portico-threaded wall of Matt Campbell's set serves as church, vineyard, and mountainside, and by thrusting the audience onto a few rows of seats on the stage, it becomes intimate, seating us at the wedding reception, letting us eavesdrop on the gossipy neighbors. Christopher Colucci's original music haunts and charms through each scene, like a film score.

Although Judith Lightfoot Clarke as the mother of the groom starts off slowly, her unyielding tempo of enmity and grief anchors and sets the tone for a stellar cast of professionals and students (part of the theater mentoring program that Drexel's collaboration offers).

Eric Scotolati acts a natural cuckold to J. Hernandez's tempestuous lover, both fighting for Victoria Rose Bonito's rather dour bride. The conflict in female mating strategy between passion and resources, which might normally lead to little regrets or poor life decisions, here ruins lives.

Professional musician Stephen Lyons (as the beggar) strums a guitar and softly sings monologues about hoping the moon provides enough light for a good killing. It sounds horrendous but rings true in this production of Lorca's poetical tragedy, and frightens with what it reveals about the nature of our humanity.

Blood Wedding Through Nov. 23 at Drexel University's Mandell Theater, 33d and Chestnut Streets.

Tickets: $15-$25.

Information: philartistscollective.org.EndText