Tensions escalate as secrets unravel
The last of Federico Garcia Lorca’s plays, written just months before he was executed by Spanish Nationalists, The House of Bernarda Alba is one of his best and most loved plays. Alice Birch’s new adaptation debuts at The National Theatre’s Lyttleton stage with Harriet Walter taking on the role of the infamous matriarch, writes Christopher Peacock.
The story is of five daughters living under the oppressive reign of Bernarda in the wake of their father’s passing. With news that Pepe El Romano is to take eldest daughter Angustias’ hand in marriage, the tensions escalate in the rising temperature as secrets unravel.
The reading into Lorca’s piece usually circles around the power struggles within the household and the oppressive heat that seems to keep these five women trapped in the firm grip of their mother. In Birch’s script not only are these women more coarse in their language, some of the scenes are played on top of each other. This can get a touch harder to follow as your eyes fly around the stage piecing together conversations but also there are a lot of creative decisions from the whole team that seem to take away any Spanishness out of play.
These decisions are partly from Merle Hansel’s set design. A house over three floors sliced open like a doll’s house and instead of the monochrome colour palette familiar to productions of the past, this was all mint green with further colour splashed in for dramatic sequences alongside Lee Curren’s lighting design. Another deviation from the original is the inclusion of Pepe El Romano on stage. James McHugh does some fantastic choreographed physical theatre routines when involved in the show as Pepe and certainly fulfils the image of the daughters desires especially for Martirio and Adela. Director Rebecca Frecknall’s choice to pivot the style of the show away from realism in sequences tended to emotionally distance the audience, especially with the ensemble movement pieces that closed each act.
The production’s successes certainly come from the performances of the cast. Harriet Walker as Bernarda Alba was as strict and humourless as could be – Never overplayed but every inch fierce. Eileen Nicholas’ Maria Josefa and Eliot Sat’s Amelia were however slightly over-pitched in their roles to provide comic relief. I understand where the show would want to add this balance, especially as Isis Hainsworth as Adela and Lizzie Annis as Martirio do give great intense performances with the heavier emotional lifting of their characters exposing their desires and vulnerabilities.
It is always a wonderful opportunity to see great writing. Manipulated to create fresher scenes higher in energy this certainly has great appeal for those new to the work of Lorca. There are some things in theatre and storytelling that work because of what you don’t see. The use and reference to things off-stage work well to pull audiences in and let their imaginations run wild. Here the decisions were to keep them in sight; from Pepe himself being on stage to having the climactic tragic ending played out for us to see, some of the mystique is unfortunately shedded.
National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 9PX until January 6th. Times: Mon – Sat 7.30pm; Wed & Sat matinees 2.165pm. Admission: £20 – £96
Booking: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
