HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA till 8 November.

Coventry
THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA
By Federico Garcia Lorca, adapted by David Johnson
Mon. To Sat. 7.30pm
Runs 1hr 30mins. No interval

Tickets: 024 7655 3055
www.belgrade.co.uk

Review: Ian Spiby, 29 October 2008

Flawed production of Lorca’s masterpiece though still well worth a visit.

Lorca’s play concerns a woman who represses the lives and hopes of her five daughters in the name of tradition and respectability, with tragic consequences.

In this production, their house is conceived as an airless prison with steel walls and fluorescent lights, where the girls are condemned to spend eight years mourning their father’s death. Their mother, Bernarda, bare headed and dressed in a jacket and short skirt of military cut appears like a wardress, using the stick she carries to beat any deviants from her iron regime. She marches around the stage in straight lines on an invisible grid. And herein lies the first problem. There is no feeling that she is acting from a deep-seated emotional impetus, which has been bequeathed to her and over which she has no control – her behaviour appears to be merely sadistic.

The other problem concerns the theme of “desire” outlined by the adaptor, David Johnson in his programme note. The director, Gadi Roll, has chosen to make the actors express this desire (repressed on the part of the daughters) by shouting at one another with machine-gun rapidity throughout the play. The result is that we get a sense of hysteria but little else.

Notwithstanding this, there are some strong performances. Adela (Stephanie Leonidas), the youngest daughter, fighting her two sisters Augustias (Emma Pallant) and Martirio (Madeleine Worrall) for the love of the most eligible man in the village, provides us with some of the most effective scenes in the production. And Anna Calder-Marshall as the serving woman, La Poncia, commands our attention every time she is on stage.

But alas, these good points are undermined by poor directorial decisions which, on the press night at any rate, resulted in inappropriate laughter from the audience.

Despite these eccentricities, the power of this rarely-performed play comes through. Lorca has caught something fundamental at the heart of the human condition; it is worth a visit.

Cast:
La Poncia: Anna Calder-Marshall.
Maid: Kay Curram.
Prudencia/Beggar Woman: Su Elliott.
Adela: Stephanie Leonidas.
Magdalena: Celia Meiras.
Amelia: Fiona O’Shaughnessy.
Augustias: Emma Pallant.
Bernarda: Fiona Victory.
Maria Josefa: Janet Whiteside.
Martirio: Madaleine Worrall.

Director: Gadi Roll, Designer: Roni Toren, Lighting Designer: Jonathan Samuels, Casting Director: Camilla Evans, Soundscape: Gadi Roll, Script Consultant: Genevieve Raghu

2008-10-29 20:37:39