Review: This Bloody Wedding, Camden People’s Theatre

It’s the morning of Camila and Antonio’s wedding, and everyone is frantic. None more so than wedding organiser Tania (Madeleine Jones), an effervescent neurotic whose responsibility it is to pull the chaotic event together. After meeting and greeting the audience; the wedding guests, she leads us into the theatre/chapel. We’re met by a scene of devastation: everyone is arguing, and two brides are wrestling on the floor. Oops! Everybody out, back to the foyer. Then we re-enter the theatre, now empty of people. Except this isn’t right either, so we all follow Tania back to the foyer again. It’s a fun dramatic device, and it works well.

We’re assigned in groups to help the wedding party. We might be following the lascivious priest Gustavo (Shashank Sharma), or the bridegroom Antonio (Shannon Tamara); we might be placed with the bride, Camila (Erica Harris) together with her raunchy grandmother Julia (Amelia Forbes). We might even catch a glimpse of would-be bride Rebeca (Shana Horwood), although for my group she didn’t appear until after the interval.

What follows is an hour of rushing from space to space as secrets are gradually revealed. Immersive theatre requires multiple locations, but as this show is only on for three nights it’s impossible to build bespoke sets; instead, we move between the theatre space, the dressing room and a walled-off section of the bar. It’s funny, frantic and skilfully choreographed, as the various characters weave around each other and form separate groups. The first half ends with an arrest, but as this event takes place out of sight of my group, it isn’t clear who was arrested, or why.

Perhaps thinking that the audience would be tired after their first act exertions, writer Mafalda Quintas (who also produces and directs) chooses to set the second act entirely within the theatre space, with the audience now comfortably seated. Here the proceedings are run by Vitor (Sharma again), now inexplicably in the guise of an American cop, as signified by his gold detective shield, clip-on radio and aviator sunglasses. And, curiously, a red satin tie. After gamely attempting an American accent he gives up after a few sentences, and the half hour is spent watching him interrogate the participants about the events of their day.

And this is where the play falls flat. The second half is desperately static, largely devoid of either action or intrigue. Shouting, and it is very shouty, is no substitute for dramatic tension. The audience attempts a titter at the occasional gag, but are clearly bored. “I don’t think this is going anywhere,” Vitor says at one point, and I have to agree with him. When the multiple secrets are revealed in the denouement they’re deeply implausible; and the key events on which the plot turns make no sense whatsoever. It’s great fun for the first half, but nothing is gained by staying after the interval.

Written, produced and directed by Mafalda Quintas
Produced by TIA Theatre Company

This Bloody Wedding runs at Camden People’s Theatre until Saturday 8 August.