Dartington Playgoers visit Andalusia

“The House of Bernarda Alba” is a tragic play about women living in a remote Spanish village in Andalusia in the 1930’s.  Written by Frederico Garcia Lorca who was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of ’27, a group consisting mostly of poets who introduced the tenets of European movements such as symbolism, futurism, and surrealism into Spanish literature.

The narrative centres round the figure of Bernarda who keeps her five, unmarried daughters under tight control as they mourn their father’s death. But can the five sisters survive when the youngest, Adela, dares to seek passion and freedom?

In Rona Munro’s powerful adaptation of this play there are no men, but into the story arrives the young and handsome Pepe el Romano intent on proposing marriage to Angustias, Bernarda’s eldest daughter, but at the same time embarking on an illicit affair with her youngest, Adela – with horrifying consequences.

In this play Lorca uses memories from when he was six years old and would hide in the well his family shared with their neighbours overhearing his tyrannical neighbour castigating her daughters.

The House of Bernarda Alba is regularly revived and read all over the world, with a new version opening at the National Theatre in November. Despite being nearly 90 years old, the play is still relevant to modern feminist issues, being a tragic tale of repressed rural Spanish women who will never have the opportunity to choose a husband. It is also a play expressing the costs of repressing the freedom of others.

Playgoers life member Richard Clark will be returning  to direct this theatre classic. Richard is an experienced actor and director, not only with Playgoers but throughout the region. His recent productions include The Canterbury Tales, Cider with Rosie, Treasure Island and She Stoops To Conquer. He worked with Nick Stimson on the creation of our original projects based on the history of Totnes and Dartington, Love and Fire (2013) and Inventing Utopia (2016).

The production runs from:
November Wed 22nd – Sat 25th at 7.30 pm in Studio One, Dartington Hall Estate
Tickets £12 (£8 for under 18’s) available here or call 01803 847070.