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Review

Blood Moon Blues: Howling wolf, huntress owl

Despite some kitschy staging, Blood Moon Blues is a fascinating and complicated production ★★★★

Photo: Ute Langkafel

The metaphors of the howling wolf that cannot be tamed and the huntress owl that catches a mouse are a little laboured and may seem even more so by the enormous projections of these animals as the music swells. But in the latest piece from Gorki’s in-house director Yael Ronen, the sometimes kitschy staging and story doesn’t offend.

The real power of this piece is that there is no attempt to find reconciliation or moral rectitude

Elinor, played in resplendent, manipulative, maternal glory by long-time Ronen collaborator Orit Nahmias, is an eccentric, bipolar writer who disappears to a cave in an ashram in Israel and summons the most important people in her life – her long-term partner, new lover and long-suffering daughter – to join her there.

In an hour and a half of fast-paced Denglish, we get a fascinating insight into the ways that Elinor has hurt the various people in her life and vice versa. The costumes and stage design, including the projections, give the piece a fantastical, magical realism feel.

But the real power of this piece is that there is no attempt to find reconciliation or moral rectitude. The twee nature of the story is ultimately beautifully undermined by the complicated, imperfect performances.