The House of Bernarda Alba

We did this my freshman year in college- I played the maid(thus ended my dramatic hopes!). Although I do remember that we did some "analysis" of the play and background material on Lorca himself, I truly believe that the reason behind the selection of the work was simply the fact that almost all the roles were for women, and there were no men in our drama class!

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I actually just read this play a few months ago in my Spanish literature class. I found it very interesting, the way it addressed «el qué dirán» (the concept in English is a person/family's reputation based on what they do--translated directly: "What will they say?"), the relationships between the classes (maids and Bernarda's family), and I loved the tone that was set. I'm afraid that this play would lose a lot in the translation to English--do any of you who have done it have comments on that?

I didn't mean that they would cut out characters or change the plot... I just mean the tone of the lines, the nuances in the language might be lost.

Ohh ok I see what you're saying, I'd love to read the Spanish version and compare, it would be interesting.

My school did a newer version called "Another Part of the House".

It's based off of Lorca's original, but in set in Cuba, there are no outside people. Poncia's, who is played by a black woman, part is much different. It's much more dramatic and is not the comic relief that it once was. That part(comic relief) belongs to the Grandmother, Maria Josefa. Her part has really been beefed and is very important, unlike how it was it the original.

This play stays true to Lorca's original concepts, yet explores things that couldn't be discussed at that point in time. If you were to put on a production of one of the two, I suggest you do "Another Part of the House".

It's worth checking out!!!!!!

BERNARDA ALBA is actually the play by Lorca which translates to English best, because it's the play where he aims the most at realism (his subtitle for the play is "A Photographic Documentary"). His other plays tend to incorporate much more explicit poetry, which complicates questions of translation (as in BLOOD WEDDING). That said, though, there's always a loss in translation; inevitably, there are times when the translator has to use several words even to approximate the exact shade of meaning in one word of the original. And of course the rhythms of the Spanish dialogue just can't transfer over to English; the syntax of the two languages is too different.

Nevertheless, it does work in English. I'd recommend the film made back in the 1980s, based on a London production, with Glenda Jackson as Bernarda and Joan Plowright as Poncia.

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