The House of Bernarda Alba: a modern adaptation

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Description

Following the gangland execution of her husband, the formidable matriarch Bernarda Alba will do anything to safeguard her family's dubious fortune and the future of her five daughters. A deal is struck - a marriage of convenience between her eldest girl and the son of a business rival. All Bernarda has to do is ensure that the wedding happens, and quickly. Five headstrong daughters cooped up in the family home in an emotionally charged atmosphere of bitter rivalry and repressed sexuality make that an epic challenge.

One of the most celebrated European dramas of the 20th century, the play was finished by Lorca shortly before he was executed in Spain for his left-wing politics. He described it as a "drama of women in the villages of Spain" - a theme that is electrifyingly transposed in this version to the tough communities of Glasgow's East End. Faithfully preserving Lorca's sense of boiling tension and impending tragedy, this adaptation brings a classic text thrillingly up to date. This text was published to coincide with the world premiere of the adaptation, a production by the National Theatre of Scotland in 2009.

Reviews

It is the most Spanish of plays, a powerful example of that almost untranslatable element in Spanish art, duende: an almost magical sense of the soul, at once anguished, yearning and exhilarated...one feels it in Lorca's play' * Mark Brown, Sunday Herald, 27.9.09 *
'Rona Munro's bold translation for the National Theatre of Scotland is not the gimmick it may sound. This is a portrait of an all-female household cocooned from teh outside world by a domineering mother and fear of the paparazzi.' * Mark Fisher, Guardian, 21.9.09 *

Author Bio

Rona Munro is one of Scotland's leading writers. Her latest play The Last Witch premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival 2009 and her other plays include The Indian Boy (RSC), Watership Down (Lyric Hammersmith), Iron (Traverse Theatre, Royal Court and Manhattan Theatre Club).