The House of Bernarda Alba

Synopsis

The House of Bernarda Alba follows the plight of the widow Bernarda. After her husband's death, she locks the doors and windows against the world and imposes a strict period of mourning on her five daughters. Under the shadow of the church and the rules of society, the women conflict and spiral into emotional chaos.

Our Review:

Theo Bosanquet - 27 January 2012

In 2010 Tamasha transplanted Lorca's classic matriarchal drama to Pakistan, and now the Almeida presents a version (scripted by Emily Mann) that sets the action in rural Iran.

The result is a production that, while visually impressive and eventually harrowing, gets somewhat tangled in its transition and proves more effective at uncovering Lorca's sexual politics that those of contemporary Iran.

In the title role, Iranian stage and screen actor Shohreh Aghdashloo is a striking, husky-voiced ice queen – a woman who can barely disguise the sexual frustration that so appals her in her own daughters.

Ostensibly grieving for her husband, by imposing an atmosphere of chaste mourning on her household she only succeeds in tightening a lid on a pressure cooker, and the girls' inevitable frustrations come spilling out through the windows, where lovers lurk in waiting.

Tensions rise between eldest daughter Asieh (Pandora Colin), w...

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Latest User Review

Martin Phelps - 17 February 2012:

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....

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