THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA
Location: Loeb Experimental Theatre
DATES: April 14-April 22, 2006
DIRECTOR: Mary E. Birnbaum ’07
PRODUCER: Kim Chen ’08


Fascism, suicide, and a house full of women make a dramatic appearance this Friday at the Loeb Experimental Theatre with the first performance of Frederico García Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba,” directed by Mary E. Birnbaum ’07 and produced by Kim Chen ’08.

The play, one of Lorca’s best known, is a “vehemently anti-fascist allegory,” according to Birnbaum. The play’s originality, however, lies in the its feminine focus.

“It’s unusual for plays at Harvard, and beyond, to have a fully female cast,” Birnbaum explains. Birnbaum, who went to an all-girls high school, was attracted to the play because of this aspect.

“Any atmosphere in which women are surrounded only by each other—a sorority, a female final club—is always really interesting,” she says. Because of this, the play is “not a period drama—the relationships, feelings, and emotions are timeless.”

“Bernarda Alba” is, in fact, a “social experiment,” according to Birnbaum, asking what would happen were men to disappear. Set in rural Spain, the cloistered home of matron Bernarda Alba, played by Alexandra C. Palma ’08, is rife with internal female conflict and external societal tensions. The cast, which is comprised of nine female actors, includes Ellen C. Quigley ’07 as Poncia, a servant, and Olga I. Zhulina ’09, as the fiery youngest daughter Adela.

Stage manager Daniel P. Wenger ’09 describes Lorca’s play as a “classic text,” one that has been produced many times since its first publication in 1945.

“It takes a specific directorial vision to bring [Lorca’s play] to life in the twentieth century,” Wenger explains. “Mary has done that.”

Birnbaum has chosen a recent translation of the play by British playwright David Hare, and is unsure whether this particular translation, published in March 2005, has been been performed in the United States before. Hare’s language, according to Birnbaum, is much more contemporary.

“Many traditional translations are staid,” Wenger claims, “and not as applicable to modern audiences.” Hare’s translation brings a “vitality and immediacy to Lorca’s classic text,” Wenger says.

Birnbaum has complemented this new translation with “inventive staging, unique takes on character, and skillful incorporation of sound and dance,” according to Wenger.

Another new addition is a 400-foot burlap ceiling, hiding the normal cobweb of lightbulbs and steel catwalks that gives “the Ex” its “experimental” feel. The ceiling, which took approximately ten hours to make and install, gives the stage the rustic feel of rural Spain.

“Bernarda Alba” was a revolutionary play in its time, a compelling critique of the dangers of social convention and the agents of repression. Birnbaum has stayed true to this avant-garde legacy, infusing Hare’s new, modern translation with her own creative stage techniques. Birnbaum’s fresh rendition of Lorca’s popular play promises an intimate night of lingerie, catfights, and social commentary.