This year’s graduating students from the Australian College of Theatre and Television (ACTT) put on an impressive production of the great Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca’s play ‘Blood Wedding’ at its home venue, the Cleveland Street Theatre.

Lorca’s classic play, set in rural Spain in the early 1930’s, is a great vehicle for up and coming actors with its intensely dramatic, fatalistic and romantic storyline. In ‘Blood Wedding’ a mother has grave, well founded fears for her son’s future after she finds out that he is about to marry a woman who was previously married to Leonardo, a member of the Felix family responsible for the earlier murder of her husband and other son.

The ACTT students were assisted by veteran stage and television director Aarne Neeme clear and assured direction. Through the play the cast built up their momentum well, making for a highly charged, final third Act, where everything, humans and nature, converge upon the runaways.

The cast rose to the challenge of playing Lorca’s meaty, substantial roles. Tiffany Stoecker was very solid as the angst ridden Mother with Timothy Selby playing her naive, indulged in Son. Sophie Richardson gave a sensitive performance as the Bride. Reece Vella was impressive as the hot blooded Spaniard, Leonardo. As Leonardo’s long suffering wife Billie-Rose Crane conveyed her characters’ anguish. Laura Peach gave some clever, quirky touches to her portrayal of the Bride’s servant.

Aarne Neeme’s graduating students production of ‘Blood Wedding’ only has a brief season at the Cleveland Street theatre with the final performance to take place this Saturday night, 17th April, 2010.