The House of Bernarda Alba
Following their sold-out production of The House of Bernarda Alba (in Spanish, La Casa de Bernarda Alba) from the Autumn/Winter 2017/2018 Season, Cervantes Theatre’s production of Federico García Lorca‘s famous play is coming back for a second run in February. This time, the venue will be the Arundel Centre at Channing School in North London. For the first time, the play will be performed in Spanish with English surtitles.
The House of Bernarda Alba is one of the most famous Spanish plays. It was written in 1936 by Federico García Lorca, the most popular and influential poet of twentieth-century Spanish literature. However, the play was not published in Spain until 1950, since García Lorca was killed in the Spanish Civil War only two months after finishing it, and his work censored by Franco’s regime until 1963 because of its political implications and the behavior and language of the characters in the play, considered immoral at the time.
The play, in three acts, tells the story of Bernarda Alba, a 60-year-old woman who, after being widowed for the second time, decides to live in the most rigorous mourning for the next eight years. Lorca, who subtitled the play A drama of women in the villages of Spain, describes the so-called ‘deep Spain’ (España profunda) of the early twentieth century. The action is set in the house of Bernarda, who lives with her five daughters (Angustias, Magdalena, Amelia, Martirio and Adela), her mother (Maria Josefa), 80, who suffers from acute senile dementia, and her two maids (“la Poncia” and “la Criada”) in a small Andalusian village.
The House of Bernarda Alba is a play full of symbolism that explores the role of women in the violent and traditional society of the early twentieth century. Themes such as passion, repression and conformity are explored through the character of Bernarda and the dominion she exerts over her five daughters.
The play will be performed between the 4th and the 8th of February at 2.30 and 7.30pm – don’t miss it!
Interested? Read more about it and buy your tickets here.
Did you know? You can also read this article in Spanish! Click here for the Spanish version.
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