Reader Reviews
The House of Bernarda Alba (Lyttelton (National Theatre), West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | I FEEL DISSAPOINTED AND CHEATED BY THIS BIZARRE PRODUCTION.WHERE WAS THE FEAR? WHERE WAS THE POETRY? INSTEAD I WAS PRESENTED WITH INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE,OVERACTED MELODRAMA AND CHEAP LAUGHS.IS THIS AN EXAMPLE OF THE DUMBING DOWN OF THEATRE DESIGNED TO ENTERTAIN AN AUDIENCE INCAPABLE OF APPRECIATING LORCA'S SUBTLETY? - 195.195.85.23) | 09 Jun 05 |
| Thoroughly enjoyed this magnificent production, not least because it made me rethink the play: the set is a cavernous atrium suggesting faded grandeur (not the usual claustrophobic courtyard), Bernarda's daughters dress for once with an eye to the historical period the piece is set in, and Penelope Wilton invests the matriarch with an unusual humanity, albeit one muted and stifled by her lot in life. All the acting is tremendous, especially Jo McInnes and Sally Hawkins as the two main daughters and Deborah Findlay's delightfully mouthy servant, and the lighting design must be one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. All in all, I came out thrilled, drained...and with a genuine new take on Lorca's great tragedy. - 195.82.123.181) | 31 May 05 |
| Very very disappointing - though I can't say I was surprised, getting David Hare to adapt Lorca is like throwing ice cold water over a fire... people in the 1930s saying 'whatever'? I don't think so. As for Wilton as Bernarda - she simply wasn't strong enough these girls are meant to be terrified of her.. Playing Lorca for laughs is just cheap too - this is a shame a totally missed opportunity they should have spent more time trying to capture the oppressiveness of the catholic small town world and less trying to make the audience titter. It was like watching a car crash and whats worse was I couldn't leave - I felt compelled to stay. - 82.69.37.108) | 29 Apr 05 |
| Not enough happens in this Lorca 'classic' to keep your attention for 130 minutes (plus untervals). You can't fault the staging, the design or the performances - they're all up to the usual RNT standard - but it's an interesting story padded out beyond its capacity to hold your attention. Worth a visit for the production, though. - 81.135.218.1) | 10 Apr 05 |
| I am sick of people hiding behind the old story 'must all productions stick to the text'. I like extreme theatre, Forced Entertainment are geniuses. I LOVE extreme adaptations. BUT, I like them when they remain true to the SPIRIT of the original text. I don't care if they had spoken 'Bernarda Alba' in Esperanto as long as there is a strong and intellectual reason for having done so that emerges from the play. However, this requires an effort that this production does not make. It HAS NOT remained true to the spirit of the play. It has misread the play to its own ends, turning it into CHEAP MELODRAMA. That, my friends, is not Lorca. - 195.92.67.68) | 04 Apr 05 |
| I thought that the production was absolutely excellent and completely in line with the play's quicksilver shifts in tone - if you think the laughs in this production are grafted on, please go back to the original text. They are there. What is the point of one more clunky, unsayable translation and sets which stick rigidly to the stage directions? Must Hamlet be set on the ramparts of a Danish castle? The entire cast was superb - Wilton's Bernarda was fiercely authoritarian, propelled by duty and yet (and this was the revelation for me) wonderfully three-dimensional. Davies' direction is masterly. A must see! - 213.122.12.181) | 04 Apr 05 |
| Lorca's play shone through some wrongheaded adaptation and direction. The language was too modern - eg Whatever! as a stand alone sentence. And the colonnade across the front of the stage made the action at the back too remote - and harder to hear. The set was very pretty, but in consequence failed to convey claustrophobia and menace. - 195.93.21.1) | 01 Apr 05 |
| I went with the WOS outing and had one of my best evenings in the theatre. I normally do not rate David Hare (loathe his banal language and trite situations) but here his dialogue shone (thanks to Lorca). I was interested (from the talkback after the show) that as opposed to a previously admired production, the emphasis was on the family and its situation. This approach certainly succeeded for me. I was on the edge of my seat and fully rewarded by the marvellously portrayed dramatic conclusion. - 193.118.206.221) | 01 Apr 05 |
| Howard Davies' production sheds new light on what can easily become a mono-toned operatic melodrama. By treating the text in an almost Chekovian manner, there is much more shading and subtlety; the humour and humanity is greater by not playing the tragedy of the end right from the beginning. This pays dividends, especially in the play's unexpected climax, and the approach is complimented by a largely strong cast. Penelope Wilton in particular makes for a thrilling Bernada, brutishly headmistress-like, yet deeply complex. Jo McInnes' Martirio is also noteworthy for her repressed desire. Davies' decision to separate the acts with an interval allows us to view the gradual shifts in dynamic which lead us towards the horrific denoument, while Paule Constable's lighting, piercing through the Moorish blinds, complements this passing of time beautifully. A breath of fresh air on a classic, which allows both naturalism, poetry and metaphor to co-exist. Unmissable. - 81.153.123.61) | 30 Mar 05 |
| I found this play inconsistent. If Bernada Alba is such a tyrant and prison-guard to her daughters, why is their language sometimes very flippant to her and why (at one point) do all the daughters save none climb over the window bars when the mother is there? The humour often failed and the final seen, whilst well acted, was almost an anti-climax. Having said that, the sense of fear and decay in the family is palpable and play did move me. - 193.114.91.245) | 30 Mar 05 |
| Appalling. Really, really bad. This production completely missed the point about the character of Bernarda Alba, and wholly disregarded Lorca's work. What on earth is Bernarda doing clutching her dead daughter in the middle of a storm? Water is an image of fertility in Lorca's work. But since the creative team think Franco died in 63, no wonder they couldn't care less about finding any truth within the play. - 195.92.67.65) | 27 Mar 05 |
| Loved this play last night,the set is amazing as they always are at the NT. The cast is excellent,Sally Hawkins especially. The 2 intervals help the play as splits into 3 very differing episodes and all cumulating to an very exciting and shocking ending. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and great value compared to the plays in dirty horrid theatres in the west end that never all the public to Press Night which thankfully the classy NT do ,BRAVO - 195.93.21.101) | 16 Mar 05 |
| I would have to agree - although it is refreshing to see a more softly-spoken Bernada Alba, Wilton instils none of the sense of fear when she is on (or off) stage. Hare's translation is too jokey and loses the beauty of the language - "I hate your guts" is hardly poetic. This is a great play and has been treated - much like Davies' Cyrano last year - with a production that it doesn't deserve. A real missed opportunity. - 212.158.201.206) | 16 Mar 05 |
| I was thoroughly looking forward to this production, as I am a fond fan of Lorca's work, and am already familiar with this play. However, I was taken aback by the lack of tension and claustrophobia that is meant to pollute the stage throughout the play. I felt the stage was too big to imply a feeling of tension between the actors, they had too much room to themselves. The play is supposed to show five daughters under a strict regime of mourning by their mother, Bernarda Alba, whom they are supposed to fear and loathe, but this was not the case at all in this production. I could not sense any fear in the daughters around Bernarda, and it robbed the play of the true meaning. I thought Penelope Wilton treated the character of Bernarda with a comical stance, which is far from how it is meant to be treated. I understand that directors can adapt mood and atmosphere how they please, but I felt this was too far from the truth of the play. I was shocked to even see Bernarda smile once, let alone much more than that. I could list the number of ways in which the production is not true to the writing of Lorca. The only one refreshing thing about this performance is Sally Hawkins, the lady that plays the role of Adela, the youngest daughter. She is a phenomenal actress, and well done to her. Although I am highly criticising the play, it is only because I was so shocked by the adaptation. I would recommend this play to someone who wants to go to see a play at the National, but not for someone who is looking to be moved by a great performance. - 172.202.236.33) | 10 Mar 05 |
