The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2025 - Issue 38

bitetheatre the Bridegroom has bought for the Bride. I’m surprised to learn that there must’ve been an incident; why would Leonardo claim it’s her fault he married her cousin? “You forced me into that; you tied that knot with your own two hands.” The Bride stands her ground and accuses him of stirring up trouble on her wedding day. I’m annoyed with him, too, but I’m loving the drama. Perhaps they’ll divulge what happened all those years ago. I hope. “My blood boils to see how you've come here today to spy on my wedding and make evil insinuations about the orange blossom. Get out. Go and wait for your wife outside.” No matter how persistently Leonardo tries to discuss what happened years ago, it pierces the Bride's heart. She has none of it and runs out. As the wedding guests’ singing grows closer, a nervous Servant urges Leonardo to leave, assuring him that the Bride's wedding will take place. The female guests arrive, singing and dancing (Fiyin Ife- bogun, Layomi Coker, Holly Faulkner). The atmosphere is joyful, filled with intricate movements and the choir’s sound. The rest of the guests arrive, and the Bride appears, looking delicately stunning. Mother is appalled to see the Bride’s cousin and her husband, Leonardo, since they be- long to the Felix family, but she is quickly reminded that they are still relatives. It seems Felix’s family presence also perturbs the Bride, who urges them to head to church im- mediately, making an excuse to the Bridegroom. “I want to see no eyes but yours. And I want you to hold me so hard and strong that even if my mother called to me, my dead mother, I couldn't pull free.” As they all decide which form of transportation to take to the church, Leonardo and his wife bicker. She wants him to ride with her in a cart to arrive as a couple; he claims he isn’t one to travel in a cart, and therefore, they shall arrive separately. He is nasty and bitter. Poor woman can’t help but plead with him. “What's happening to us? You have already thrown me away. I have a child. And another is coming. That's how it is. It happened to my mother, and now it is happening to me.” Scene two opens to the Servant preparing the home for the after-party. Mother and Father enter; however, the Servant informs that Leonardo and his wife arrived a while back. “They drove like demons. His poor wife was half dead with fright. He made that cart go like a horse with one rider.” They comment on his recklessness with horses, which prompts Mother to go on a rant about the Felixes as a family. I think ‘Here we go again!’ “His whole tribe is rotten. The great-grandfather began it - he start- ed the murders. Now we have a whole family of smiles wrapped around daggers.” Father urges her to drop her ranting, in respect of the event, but she proclaims her soul cannot. The rest of the wedding party arrives, but Leonardo leaves. The Bride- groom becomes affectionate towards his new wife, but her rigidity returns, and he is swatted off, so the female guests take the Bride to get ready for the party. Wife in- quires about Leonardo’s whereabouts after noticing his horse is also missing. Excuses are made on his behalf, and the Bride leaves, claiming to have a migraine and needing a lie-down. Mother bestows womanly advice to her son as she is about to leave; however, Father enters with news that he cannot find his daughter in her room. They ask around, and Wife then enters with the news that her husband and Bride have run off together! The Bridegroom, wielding a knife, storms out to find them, and Mother, gripped by a sense of dread, urges everyone at the wedding party to join in searching for them. “Get moving, get out on the roads,