After spending the evening walking around the historic James J. Hill House on Summit Avenue watching theater, I spent the next night walking around the historic Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul watching theater. But unlike the comic opera wedding in
The Marriage of Figaro, the wedding depicted in
The Palabras* Project, based on Spanish playwright
Frederico Garcia Lorca's 1932 tragedy Blood Wedding, is decidedly less happy. If "blood wedding" makes you think of
Game of Throne's "red wedding," you're not far off. But this isn't a straight-forward adaptation of the play. New theater company
Other Tiger Productions, founded by local theater artists
Jessica Huang and
Ricardo Vázquez with a mission "to pursue other forms, stories, and modes of collaboration in order to present an inclusive and global theater experience," has assembled a collection of short pieces around the theme of
Blood Wedding. Incorporating music, dance, and puppetry, as well as theater, the pieces are performed in various locations in and around Park Square Theatre's basement Boss Stage, including hallways, lobbies, and rehearsal rooms. It's a truly unique experience that goes beyond theater, and a wonderful new (or old) form of storytelling.
