From £20
The House of Bernarda Alba Tickets
Rebecca Frecknall makes her directorial debut at the National Theatre
Date & Time
Until 06 Jan
Presented By
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Federico Garcia Lorca’s play, written shortly before he was murdered by fascists, about sisters emotionally and physically walled up in the home of their widowed mother after their father’s death with no hope of escape, is a miracle of broken hearts, repressed emotions, and crushing disappointment. Mind you, it is the devil to stage. Is Bernarda Alba malevolent or a victim herself of patriarchy? How do you convey on stage all that repressed desire without it bubbling over into melodrama? But when it works, it is unforgettable. And the omens aren’t just good; they are brilliant for this staging in a radical new version by Alice Birch, directed by Streetcar and Cabaret director Rebecca Frecknall, and starring the wonderful Harriet Walter as the scandal-afraid mother who will not be disobeyed.
About The House of Bernarda Alba
You bring such scandal to my house In the domain of Bernarda Alba, a daughter who disobeys is no longer a daughter. Forced to live under their mother’s tight grip as they mourn their father’s death, can five sisters survive when young Adela dares for passion and freedom? Olivier Award-winner Harriet Walter (Succession) plays the formidable matriarch, guarding her reputation against the rising tide of her family’s desires in this pitch-black drama exploring the consequences of oppressing women. Following Olivier Award-winning revivals of Cabaret and A Streetcar Named Desire, Rebecca Frecknall makes her directorial debut at the National Theatre with Alice Birch’s (Normal People) radical version of Federico García Lorca’s modern masterpiece.