A masterpiece of love and loathing that speaks to us today

DAVID Hare’s new English version of Lorca’s great masterpiece of love and loathing, The House of Bernarda Alba, is being performed by Thame Players during the week September 6 – 10.

The play is one of three in Lorca’s ‘rural trilogy’ – the others being Yerma (successfully revived at the Young Vic in a new adaptation starring Billie Piper this summer) and Blood Wedding.

Val Cockayne, who plays Maria Josefa, in rehearsals for ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’

The play was written in 1936, the year that saw the start of the Spanish Civil War and also Lorca’s murder by Franco’s nationalists at the age of 38 – he never saw his work performed. With an all-female cast, The House of Bernarda Alba tells the story of five daughters living in one household with their tyrannical mother. When the father of all but the eldest dies, a marriage plan is advanced which has dramatic and tragic consequences for the entire family.

The play deals with themes such as arranged marriage and illegitimacy, providing an insight into social conditions in rural Spain in the 1930s. It explores passion, repression and conformity, showing the powerful influence of family reputation on events.

Lorca was the homosexual son of a wealthy landowner, a celebrated poet, artist and musician as well as a playwright.  A gentle man with republican sympathies, he heard first-hand in his father’s household from the servants gossiping about village life, about how women were treated in 1930s Spain, and this drama, set in the villages of Andalusia, shows how oppression, tradition and class prejudice affected women’s lives.

The director of Thame Players’ production is Bernadette Tildesley. She explained: “This play is challenging and draws you in because all the characters are strong and credible. The action is dramatic, but you sense an underlying ironic humour which deepens audience engagement. The leading character, the matriarch of the family, is fascinatingly awful to watch – men are mesmerised by her just as much as women.

“Although it relates to life in rural Spain over 80 years ago, this play has meaning for us in the 21st century.” Referring to a 2012 adaptation of Bernarda Alba by Emily Mann at the Almeida Theatre, Bernadette continued: “This adaptation reinforced the political resonances first seen in the 2005 premiere of David Hare’s version. These are relevant, for example, when you look at the oppression, particularly of women, that is happening now in contemporary Iran. These undertones enable the audience to appreciate and empathise with the poignancy of the story, while pondering its political dimensions. The play is beautifully written and well worth experiencing.”

NOTES

• The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca in the new English version by David Hare is at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame OX9 2DP from Tuesday 6th until Saturday 10th September, starting at 7.45 pm. Tickets cost £9 and £8 (concessions) and are available from Spear Travels, telephone 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk

• Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936), one of the greatest Spanish writers of the twentieth century, was born in Fuente Vaqueros, a village west of Granada. His early years growing up in the countryside had a lasting effect on him. In 1928 he found national fame with the publication of Gypsy Ballads. Returning to Spain from a visit to New York in 1929/30, Lorca found the left-wing government more to his liking. Using a government grant, he ran a travelling theatre company, La Barraca, from 1932-36. During this period he completed his ‘rural trilogy’ including The House of Bernarda Alba. Following the outbreak of civil war in 1936, he was targeted by Falangist thugs, arrested, and shot dead near Granada. Although his death was recorded in 1940, his body was never found.

• David Hare, born in Sussex in 1947, is the author of twenty-nine plays for the stage, seventeen of which have been seen at the National Theatre. His new version of Lorca’s play, premiered at the National in 2005 in a fine production by Howard Davies, leaves little doubt of the play’s political resonance. He has also written many screenplays for cinema and television and written and directed a trilogy of films for the BBC.

• Thame Players is a registered charity run entirely by volunteers offering a varied range of productions all year round, from serious theatre to comedy and pantomime, including their own productions, visiting shows, and film screenings by Thame Cinema 4 All. For more information about Thame Players call 07938 857291 or visit www.thameplayers.co.uk.