Federico Garcia Lorca is without a doubt one of the great playwrights of the last century. His fiery and passionate plays ignite the imagination and excite the spirit and people all over the world have acclaimed his famous Rural Trilogy of Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding), La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba) and Yerma, all of which rebelled against the norms of bourgeois Spanish society.

Lorca’s original story is not too complex. A woman loves a married man but marries someone acceptable to her father. On her wedding day she runs off with her lover leaving her new husband and the man’s pregnant wife at the wedding reception wondering where they both went. The new husband gathers a posse to hunt them down and when they are found the two men duel it out to their death. In between many issues come up, like the long family hatred between the groom’s family and the family of the lover (Lorenzo), the issue of a disputed vineyard and its rightful owner and the bride’s inner agony at loving two men.

The groom’s Mother played by Sharon Omi is wonderfully portrayed with believable indignation and rage and the specter of death is exceptionally created by Robert Almodovar. The rest of the acting is adequate, with some flashes of potential but not always uniform or sustained. It is difficult to buy into the two illicit lovers played by Nikki McKenzie and Joshua Zar. The one word we have used several times here is MIA from both actors – “passion”. She’s a very pretty girl and he’s a good looking guy – who yell a lot at one another but the fire in the belly is either extinguished or never got started.

By taking this play out of Spain, Ronder left behind much of what makes Lorca’s work special. Besides the people, his plays incorporate the land – the hills – the smell of the earth and the position of the stars – how the moon shines over the vineyards and how the dirt feels beneath your naked feet and all those things are part of the people he creates and have a great deal to do with how they act and think. Maybe Director Jon Lawrence Rivera can have his charges read more of Lorca’s plays to get a better feel for what he was trying to say. The production felt as if the actors were just doing their lines and even at the final curtain the bride looked as if she would rather have been someplace else. Perhaps someplace other than Central California?

Sorry. Blood Wedding didn’t do it for us this time.

Also in the cast are Ivan Davila, Willie Fortes, Marjorie Gaines, Alberto Isaac, Jennie Kwan, Rosie Narasaki, Joseph Ngo, Ochuwa Oghie and Donna Pieroni.

Blood Wedding plays at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 South Sepulveda Los Angeles CA 90025-5621 through August 14, 2011. Reservations at: 310-477-2055. www.odysseytheatre.com