GREAT WORKS THEATRE FESTIVAL
July 29th to August 10th at the Belfry Theatre
Puente Theatre and Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre are thrilled to announce the launch of the Great Works Theatre Festival, a groundbreaking new initiative dedicated to bold interpretations and adaptations of the world’s great theatrical works. The inaugural festival will take place from July 29 to August 10, 2025, at the Patrick Stewart Theatre in the Belfry Theatre.
The festival’s debut season will feature two acclaimed works performed in repertory by a talented company of ten actors. The lineup includes a new adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s Blood Wedding, directed and adapted by Puente Theatre’s Mercedes Bátiz-Benét, alongside American playwright David Hirson’s La Bête (The Beast). These productions will share creative teams, emphasizing a unified artistic vision while offering audiences a dynamic theatrical experience.
“Our ambition with this exciting new co-production partnership,” stated Brian Richmond, Executive Artistic Director of Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, “is to create a major new theatre festival for the City of Victoria and the Pacific Northwest. This festival will celebrate the great works of world theatre history through innovative new adaptations and interpretations. With a three-year agreement between our two companies, we hope to gain widespread public support and secure the festival’s permanent place in Victoria’s cultural landscape.”
For Mercedes Bátiz-Benét, Artistic Director of Puente Theatre, this festival represents something deeply meaningful: “At Puente, we are committed to providing newcomer artists and underrepresented voices with opportunities that allow them to flourish. The Great Works Theatre Festival will provide a level of artistic opportunity that is often out of reach for these artists, and I am thrilled to be part of a venture that ensures their work is seen and celebrated. Additionally, through this festival, we will be able to share masterpieces from around the world with Victoria audiences, bringing them timeless and powerful stories that transcend cultures and generations. By showcasing great works from diverse traditions, we aim to broaden perspectives, foster cross-cultural dialogue, and deepen the appreciation of global theatre in our community.”
Treena Stubel, President of Puente Theatre, and Christopher Mackie, President of Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, emphasized the festival’s importance to the city’s artistic community: “Our respective boards are excited and confident in the role this festival can play in our city. We believe this partnership has the potential to deepen and expand our longstanding commitments to diverse artistic communities while continuing to provide significant opportunities for emerging theatre artists.”
BLOOD WEDDING
by Federico García Lorca
in a new version by Mercedes Bátiz-Benét
Blood Wedding is a gripping tragedy by Federico García Lorca that delves into the tumultuous interplay of passion, fate, betrayal, and tradition. Penned in 1932, during a period of escalating political unrest preceding the Spanish Civil War and the rise of fascism, the play serves as a poignant reflection on the forces that can lead individuals toward their destiny—or their downfall. The narrative centers on a young bride in a rural village, ensnared between her commitment to an arranged marriage and an unquenchable love for a former suitor. This conflict ignites a series of events marked by deep-seated family vendettas and suppressed desires, culminating in a tragic and violent climax.
In Mercedes Bátiz-Benét’s contemporary adaptation, the timeless themes of Lorca's work are revitalized to resonate with today's societal challenges. This rendition underscores the destructive power of entrenched hatred and the pervasive fear of "the other" mirroring the divisions that plagued Lorca's era and continue to manifest in our current world. Through poetic language and evocative symbolism, this adaptation not only honors the original play's essence but also prompts audiences to reflect on the enduring nature of these societal issues.
LA BETE
by David Hirson
La Bete (The Beast) is a 1991 comedy by American playwright David Hirson. Written entirely in rhymed couplets, this homage to the genius of Moliere is set in 17th-century France. The play revolves around a single evening in which the highly respected head of a royal court-sponsored theatre troupe – Elomire - is forced by the troupe’s patron to play host to a boorish and megalomaniac street performer named Valere. Despite Elomire's violent objections, the company is forced by their patron Prince Conti to perform one of Valere's own plays in the drawing room where they have assembled that night. The results are both unexpected, hilarious and heart-breaking as vulgarity triumphs over taste and Elomire’s entire troupe and patron reject their former leader and launch a new age driven by populism and vulgarity.
“This is truly a play for our time” says director Brian Richmond. “As we struggle with our disbelief that our world can be so quickly and radically transformed, we all need to find the way to break the thrall brought on by the violence of ego. Hirson’s hilarious and brilliant play offers us such a cure – if only for an evening.”