The House of Bernarda Alba Essay -- Drama

The House of Bernarda AlbaThe National theatreChoose one production that you have seen and which you particularlyenjoyed and talk about the aspects which made it so successful?The House of Bernarda Alba is a tragedy by Lorca which was stria inSpain in the early 1930s during the Spanish civil warfare and is aboutfive daughters whose lifes resolve around their mother Bernarda Alba.The girls are repressed by there mother which could be why he wrotethis play, to express his feelings and show through the characters howhe felt during life as he was repressed for being gay better never tolay eyeball on a man, never to have seen one.I enjoyed The House of Bernarda Alba as many aspects of the playwere successful.There was a large, complicated real(a)istic sterilize like Stanislavski woulduse with period costumes and props which allowed the audience to seeit visually which helped believability in the play as it contributedto the realistic acting. It helped you feel like you were in Spain , asa hot climate was suggested through the set it was exotic, light andSpanish looking. The props gave a sense of the period the play was setfor interpreter the radio, the bell, the wash basin and the sewingmachines were all authentic.The set was in Bernarda Albas house which was a grand mansion with agilt, lofty ceiling. I call back the towering interior clearly representedthe distorted mind of Bernarda Alba. The house was a very open, freeplace for the girls to roam around in. It had a tribunal in thecentre, light green walls making it seem larger and many plants,showing the outside was brought inside. I felt this was a success asthe set showed how Bernarda Alba didnt want the girls to leave thehouse as there were closed shutters down to the floor this showed thegirls were isolated from the outside world. The set designer hasevidently striven to bring into being a physical space which representedpsychological uneaseThere were four stone pillars which I feel could have represe nted fourof the daughters and the decision daughter was represented by the drainshaped as a cross on the courtyard, which showed she died. I also feltthat the pillars were successful as they might signify the house islike a prison for the girls, and they are the bars. There were twostained glass windows one which was broken which gave a sense that formerly the... ... came across ascontrolling by her strict tone of voice. It was successful the counselthe director showed the girls as fearful of the mother. Every timesomeone would saunter in the room they would jump as they thought itwas their mother and if their mother did come in they would sit downimmediately and sit in dummy up sewing. If their mother asked them aquestion you would hear a fearful tremble in their voice as theyreplied showing they lived in fear of their mother. Another way inwhich the actors of the girls were effective is the way they reactedto men. The only men the girls would ever see apart from their father ,was the man who delivers the fabric. So in the play when Pepe came tothe door all the girls would get hold excited and start jumpy aroundscreaming as they ran out the door.I feel this play was generally a very successful make-up of realisticdrama because of the set, costumes, lighting and the acting. It had adetailed set and several strong actors which helped bring the play tolife as well as real rain at the end to create a dramatic effect. Longsilences were used in the play to produce tension and it used comedyand tragedy to engage the audience.