Reader Reviews
The House of Bernarda Alba (Almeida Theatre, West End)
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 | I thought this was a beautifully judged production which made for an absorbing and rewarding 95 minutes of theatre. One reviewer here has called the play boring. Rather, for me this is a slowburner, a thoughtful and carefully constructed play by Lorca which gradually draws you in and envelops you, so that you genuinely become interested in the characters and unusual story line. I had no problem with the so called "longeurs", and was indeed glad that the director had the confidence to allow the story to unfold at its own pace, rather than trying to rush the action along all the time. In any case, the slower moments such as the time at the meal table serve to show the rather dull and boring life which the cloistered women must endure and when the quick fire dramatic climax arrives it makes it feel even more powerful and startling. The play is well served by an excellent ensemble cast, but special mention should go to Jane Bertish as aunt Darya and Amanda Hale and Hara Younis, both outstanding as the two sisters who each set their heart on their elder sister's intended husband. Shohreh Aghdashloo also performs well as the authoritarian mother. - Martin Phelps | 17 Feb 12 |
| Relocating this play to contemporary Iran makes perfect sense for a story of female repression, albeit one where the main oppressor is the terrifying mother, Bernarda Alba. However, even substantial cuts to bring it in at just 95 minutes fail to bring Bijan Sheibani's production sufficiently to life. Shohreh Aghdashloo is an unusually glamorous but authentic Bernarda and is intimidating as a sort of Richard III style matriarch figure, but her colourless monotone drains away the intensity of her performance. The daughters are not established sufficiently as individuals, not helped by the youngest looking actress not playing the tragic youngest daughter. Best by far is Jane Bertish as Darya, confidante to Bernarda but never allowed to forget her lowly status, seething in her barely concealed contempt. Bunny Cristie's trademark design is excellent but, just like for The Cherry Orchard at the Olivier, she has treated the Almeida as a proscenium theatre, replicating the Lyttelton where she has made her name. This has all the ingredients for a great version of Lorca's classic which makes it even more disappointing they have not been fully realised. - David Baxter | 16 Feb 12 |
| Disappointed with this play. Perhaps it's Lorca's fault, but to me the production lacked pace. There wasn't enough difference between the daughters (once again could be an issue with the original text), but all the acting (with the exception of Bernada, who herself seemed one-dimensional) was so ya-ya London acting school. Lacked real passion, sexuality, and terror, which I imagine are what Lorca was getting at. - Chris Smith | 11 Feb 12 |
| This was Lorca’s last play, written in 1936 at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. It remained unperformed for over ten years and wasn’t seen on stage in Spain for almost 30 years. Some believe it was a prophetic metaphor for the tyranny Franco was about to unleash. Recently widowed Bernarda Alba is presiding over a more personal tyranny, with her mother and five daughters relentlessly bullied and virtually imprisoned. An offstage character is the subject of the attentions of two of the daughters, betrothed to the one with the inheritance (though I’m not sure I understand why she alone is an heiress) and subject of the obsessive attentions of another. Adapter Emily Mann and director Bijan Sheibani have relocated the play from Spain to Iran and this does help a modern audience identify with the situation, both the personal tyranny and the tyranny outside the walls of the house. The scene where c.30 women in black (20 ‘extras’!) are facing Mecca and praying rams this home. The problem with Lorca’s play is that the first 80% is spent establishing the backgound and creating the oppressive atmosphere which leads to the tragic conclusion; this lack of balance and pace is its weakness. Bunny Christie has created an evocative, claustrophobic setting ‘behind the walls’, aided by a superb soundscape from Dan Jones. You really do get a clear understanding of what it must be like living in these circumstances. The acting throughout is impressive. Shohreh Aghdashloo has great presence as Bernarda. Jane Birtish and Mia Soteriou are excellent as housekeeper and maid, and the actresses playing all five daughters create five very different characters, each of which is completely believable. It’s not a great play, fascinating but badly paced and somewhat depressing (though it does have moments of humour), but this is a very good production which drew me into the world of Bernarda’s family and the tyranny more than any other. - Gareth James | 08 Feb 12 |
| In Iran, men repress women. In this play, women repress women, and there are no men at all (the cast is ten women). So, it's not clear to me why it needs to be set in Iran. Congrats to the sound designer though, who's crickets and street sounds conjure up the feeling of a sweltering Middle-Eastern backdrop, beyond the claustrophobic household interior of the Alba household. In this production, Shohreh Aghdashloo, who was tough enough to take on Jack Bauer in 24 Season 4, is here even tougher (so tough some might say she's a caricature). She's like Voldemort in charge of St. Trinians, hissing like a snake and lashing out suddenly to beat an errant daughter with her walking stick. The daughters, forced to mourn and refrain from men for 8 years, are so thoroughly under her cosh, that the play allows for little dramatic action over it's one hour forty minutes running time. The production does have a creepy ambience though, with dim lighting and the sound of crickets providing a backdrop for lust-fuelled females to creep around a dark house at night. Amanda Hale comes off strongest as the middle child, with neither money nor looks, but the most simmering passion. This is a play for completists. It's not got enough dramatic meat for the picky, but the creepy atmospherics and sudden spooky outbursts, of females at war with each other, are memorable enough to make the production worthwhile. - steveatplays | 28 Jan 12 |
| The most boring play I have ever seen during the last four years at The Almeida. I cannot understand why it was chosen. Such a pity so much time was wasted on it. - john gurnhill | 28 Jan 12 |
| The transfer to Iran doesn't make any sense, and Shohreh Aghdashloo appears to be in a different play from everyone else. However, the supporting cast are excellent and the set and lighting are truly atmospheric. - addicted to theatre | 27 Jan 12 |
| Dreadful. The acting, script and direction were all dire - the only thing to be said for it was the set! What on earth were the Almeida doing putting this on in the first place? Staggeringly over acted to the point of becoming a macabre pantomime. Surely black actors deserve to be given better material, which does not patronise or pigeon hole them, than this. And one other thing what was it with the clunky accents? It was an African 'ello 'ello. The incredibly slow response to applaud at the close of the first act tonight was a clear sign of what the audience thought of it. - rds | 21 May 10 |
