Bernarda Alba.qxd - State Theatre

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Meet the Director 8René Buch, the Artistic Director of Repertorio Español since its inception, has hada lot of experience directing the plays of Lorca. He has directed multiple productionsof Bodas de sangre, La casa de Bernarda Alba, Yerma, Don Perlimplín, Doña Rosita lasoltera (Doña Rosita the Old Maid), and El público (The Audience). In this interview, hereflects on his most recent production of Bernarda Alba.Q: How would you describe the changes in your approach toLorca’s plays over four decades of directing them?A: What I’ve been trying to do is to refine my approach. Lorcasaid once that a play was like a poem standing up. Whatwe’re trying to do in all our productions is to put the poetryon its feet, so that people can respond to what he said.Q: Have your ideas about Lorca’s characters changed muchover the years?A: I think that I have refined them, more than anything. Thecharacters are mythical. They’re always the same, and theydon’t change... Everything is imbued with sexuality and death.Q: Your theme of the repressed instinctual life and itsrevenge—does that recur in Lorca’s other tragedies?A: Yes. It’s the point in BernardaAlba, where Adela accepts herfate. She wants her sexual lifefulfilled, and the tragedy in thiscase is that she does it. ButBernarda is the tragic figurebecause she has doneeverything, and everything thatshe’s done is wrong. At the end,I think she’s destroyed by thedeath of Adela.Q: In this production, is thefiercely dominating mother stillthe tragic heroine?Adela suffers becauseher mother does notallow her to expressher natural sexuality.But Bernarda believesshe is doing what isbest for her family byputting respectability(virginity) aboveindividual needs anddesires. Working with aclassmate, role-play adebate between AdelaA: I haven’t changed my point of and Bernarda aboutview. She’s like a communist whose way is right.who believes in the communistparty, and by following instructions she’s destroyed her family.When she comes to cry “Silencio” at the end of the play,she’s aware of her tragedy and her destruction. I don’t likeBernarda to be a monster all the time. I see her as a victim.They’re all victims of the society... The people who don’t givein to sexuality.La Poncia and the sisters at their sewingQ: What about the progress of your imagery in producingBernarda Alba?A: The first time we did Bernarda, we had enormously thickstyrofoam walls and a roof of styrofoam, with holes for doors.People would come through the doors as if they were ratscoming from holes. But for the second one we just used awall of black mesh that made a corner.Q: Is this Bernarda Alba another “black” production... anotherstark and spare production that highlights the poetry?A: It sure is. The scene is a labyrinth of things hanging—allblack. It’s like walls made of hanging things-ladders, etc.—and it covers the whole stage. Later, when the daughters aresewing, the material the girls sew covers the whole stage,too. There’s no sitting down except in the third act, when theyare supposed to be eating, butRené Buch makes athey’re not eating, they’re sittingon black cubes. It’s far moreconnection betweenabstract; it’s less Spanish. the theme of this playQ: Do you mean the charactersand themes seem moreuniversal?A: Yes. The [religious right] inthis country has given me a hintthat this could take placeanywhere.and religiousfundamentalism. Doyou think La casa deBernarda Alba couldbe set in an orthodoxJewish, Muslim,evangelical, or otherfundamentalistsociety? Why?
Audience/Resources 9Do You Know Your Part?As a member of the audience, you are a crucial part of theperformance. Before you arrive at the theater, make sure youknow your role!• When you enter the theater, follow an usher to your seat.• Once the house lights (the lights in the part of the theaterwhere the audience is sitting) go down, focus all yourattention on the stage.• Attending a live theater performance is not the same aswatching television at home. At the theater, talking, eating,or moving around disturbs the performers and othermembers of the audience. So watch and listen carefully tothe performance. And please no food or beverages!• Don’t bring cameras, camcorders, tape recorders, or anyother recording equipment to the performance. You willnot be allowed to use them.• If something in the play is funny, go ahead and laugh. Andof course, please applaud at the end of the performance ifyou liked what you saw!• After the performers are finished taking their bows, stay inyour seat until your group gets the signal to leave thetheater.ResourcesBOOKS:The House of Bernarda Alba, by Federico García Lorca.Methuen Student Edition, 2004Federico García Lorca: A Life, by Ian Gibson. Faber &Faber, 1990Fire, Blood and the Alphabet: One Hundred Years ofLorca, by Sebastian Doggart & Michael Thompson(eds.). University of Durham, 1999El Asesinato De Garcia Lorca, by Ian Gibson. Plaza &Janes Editores, S.A., 1998 (in Spanish)The Spanish Civil War, by Anthony Beevor. Penguin,2001WEBSITES:Keynotes are produced by the Education Department of the State Theatre,New Brunswick, NJ.Wesley Brustad, PresidentLian Farrer, Vice President for EducationKeynotes written and designed by Lisa Beth VettosoEdited by Lian Farrer© 2006 State TheatreThe State Theatre’s education program is funded in part by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Brother InternationalCorporation, James and Diane Burke, the E & G Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, the J. Seward JohnsonFoundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Karma Foundation, the John F. Kennedy Center forthe Performing Arts, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the McCrane Foundation, the NationalStarch and Chemical Foundation, the PNC Foundation, and the Wachovia Foundation. Their support isgratefully acknowledged.Funding has been made possible inpart by the New Jersey State Council onthe Arts/ Department of State, apartner agency of the NationalEndowment for the Arts.Continental Airlines is the officialairline of the State Theatre.Repertorio Españolwww.repertorio.orgOverview of Lorca with pictures and a poetry samplewww.cyberspain.com/passion/lorca.htmBiography of Lorca’s life with a list of his workswww.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Garc%C3%ADa_LorcaState Theatrewww.StateTheatreNJ.orgVIDEO:La casa de Bernarda Alba (1987), directed by MarioCamus. Available on amazon.com
Page 1 and 2: La casa de BernarnardaAlbaBy Federi
Page 3 and 4: Federico García Lorca 3Federico Ga
Page 5 and 6: Themes in the Play 5Women’s Lives
Page 7: The Production 7Repertorio Español

Bernarda Alba.qxd - State Theatre

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