The House of Bernarda Alba by
Federico Garcia Lorca.
Adapted by Karen Vickery with the
assistance of Andrea Garcia. Directed by Karen Vickery. Creatives: Director
Assistant to the Director Disa Swifte Composer Michael Huxley Sound Design Neville
Pye Lighting Design Disa Swifte Lighting Realisation Sophia Carlton Stage
Design Marc Hetu Costume Fiona Leach Voice Sarah Chalmers Movement Ylaria
Rogers Stage Manager Disa Swift Assistant Stage Manager Sophia Carlton Pre-production
photography Ben Appleton Rehearsal photography Marc Hetu Production photography
Jane Duong Publicity/Social Media Sebastian Winter Karen Vickery Presented by
Chaika Theatre. ACT HUB. March 19-29. Bookings. 62108748, acthub.com.au
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Zsusi Soboslay (Bernarda Alba). Christine Falsone (Poncia) |
Chaika Theatre follows up its highly successful inaugural production of Anton Checkov’s The Seagull with a powerfully dramatic production of Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba. Lorca’s final play is often regarded as the third play in his rural tragedy, with Blood Wedding and Yerma. All three plays are set in the harsh Andalucian landscape of southern Spain. The House of Bernarda Alba is Lorca’s only all women play, set in a household mourning the death of the family patriarch and ruled over by a dominant and embittered Bernarda Alba (Zsuzsi Soboslay). She exercises her iron-fisted control over her five daughters, imprisoned by the culture and stifling insularity of the village. From the very start of director Karen Vickery’s tightly adapted production played in the round at ACT HUB there is a pervading sense of foreboding in the scene between the head servant Poncia ( a beautifully articulated and grounded performance by Christina Falsone as the voice of conscience) and the maid (Diana Caban Velez) This is reinforced with the appearance of Bernarda Alba and her five daughters in mourning. There is a sense of gloom and doom in the black clothing made even more repressive by the tyrannical mother’s declaration of eight years of mourning.
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| Magdalena (Amy Kowalczuk) Amelia (Maxine Beaumont) Phot: Jane Duong |
There is the eldest sister, 39 year old Augustina (played as a plaintive middle-aged woman by Sophie Benassi and the child from Bernarda Alba’s first marriage. Magdalena (a sensitive and caring performance by Amy Kowalczuk) is 30 years old and already old beyond her years. 27 year old Amelia is played with a compliant willingness by Maxine Beaumont. Yanina Clifton gives an intriguing performance as the complex and troubled 24-year-old Martirio whose suitor was rejected by her mother and she has feelings for Pepe el Romano who is betrothed to Augustina. The youngest child twenty-year-old Adela is played with the feisty rebelliousness of the daughter craving free-spirited independence and sexual freedom. Karina Hudson gives a remarkable performance that captures the universal relevance of the young woman’s experience. To complete the family scenario, Lorca introduces the delirious grandmother Maria Josefa, who dreams of escape and marrying by the sea. Alice Ferguson gives a highly creditable performance of an old woman sliding into dementia. The minor role of a visiting neighbour who also represents the traditional conservatism and parochial gossip of the village is played by Andrea Garcia.
The catalyst for the tragedy that inevitably ensues is Pepe el Romano, whom Augustina is to marry and seduces the sexually enlivened Adela. Pepe never appears but the consequences of his existence erode the very fabric of the family’s life with a tragic result.
Lorca’s poetic realism is more
realism than poetry in this adaptation. Vickery has decided to focus on
character and relationship in the simple ACT HUB setting. It a wise decision and gives the play a
contemporary relevance, although it is clearly set in the period prior to Spain’s
Civil War in the 1930’s. On a very warm Canberra night and in a hot theatre,
the suffocating heat of the Andalucian household is powerfully and unsettlingly
real. There is little to relieve the tension between the sisters as they argue
and confront the restriction on their independence and desire for freedom. The
mood is repressive sexually and psychologically and Vickery and her actors
probe with truth and passion the bondage of their circumstance. It took some time
to warm up during the first scene but at the entrance of the tyrannical
Bernarda Alba and her five daughters in black mourning wear the sparks began to
fly and the scenes catapulted the characters towards the shocking denouement.
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| Alice Ferguson as Maria Josefa |
Lorca’s theatre is inspired by the power of the Duende, which in his theory he defines as “a momentary burst of inspiration, the blush of all that is truly alive, the truth of all the performer is creating.
tIt is the essence of this description by Lorca that Vickery and Garcia have achieved in a modern adaptation and that the cast have strived for under Vickery’s direction. I would have preferred that the drama was played out without an interval. Nonetheless, Lorca’s empathy for the suffering and confinement of women in a traditional male-dominated and oppressive society is inescapable and Chaika’s production does justice to Lorca’s spirit and the power of Duende.
I am also thankful that an excellent Canberra theatre company has had the courage and the talent to stage The House of Bernarda Alba. It is often overlooked in preference to Blood Wedding and Yerma. Perhaps one day Canberra audiences may have the opportunity to see the entire trilogy, but for now Chaika gives audiences the perfect opportunity to see a fine production of The House of Bernarda Alba.
Photos by Jane Duong
