The House of Bernarda Alba, MTC, Fairfax Studio at Arts Centre Melbourne, Tuesday June 26th 2018

The House of Bernarda Alba, MTC, Fairfax Studio at Arts Centre Melbourne, Tuesday June 26th 2018

"The House of Bernarda Alba" was presented by the Melbourne Theatre Company at the Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne on Tuesday June 26th 2018.

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.

"The House of Bernarda Alba" was adapted by Patricia Cornelius from the original play by Federico Garcia Lorca.  She is to be admired for her adaptation to Western Australia for the structure and the essence of the original play.  Sadly some of the direction and performances did not bring out the richness of her adaptation.

I have seen the Kenneth MacMillan's ballet "Las Hermanas" performed by The Australian Ballet at least three times.  This ballet is based on the same play Federico Garcia Lorca and captures the oppression of the mother succinctly.  I was moved upon each viewing of this ballet.

There is also a musical version by Michael John LaChiusa called "Bernarda Alba" that captures so much drama in the music.  This was presented at the Lincoln Centre in New York in 2006.  Upon my first listening to this recording I was moved.  

Sadly, I did not have this experience with the MTC production.

Some notable moments included when Angela played by Peta Brady stands up to her mother Bernadette played by Melita Jurisic.  The other notable moments included the physical transformation of Adele played by Emily Milledge, with her measured performance of suppressing her sexual frustrations.  When sitting at the table her body quivered in anticipation of sexual pleasure.  Both of these daughters vocally captured their characters.

Bessie Holland as Magda boomed her voice with authority.  Sadly, some of the other actresses did not match her projection to be heard and occasionally lines were lost on the audience.  Magda is a larger than life character and understandably her voice was louder, but it is unforgivable if you cannot hear the other actresses.

Some of the updating to a contemporary setting with mobile phones, technology, fashion magazines, shopping on-line and the clothes did not work for me.  These girls live under a mother who controls them, and I did not once believe they were controlled.  Physically, it was mainly wrong - with their posture.  Thank you, Peta Brady and Emily Milledge as you gave us some insight into what oppression could begin to look like.

When reading from a magazine, please select a page with writing on to recite from.  The magazines should have been Reader's Digest or Time rather than the contemporary pop-culture magazines to give some titillation or sense of voyeurism.

Julie Forsythe played Penelope provided some fine physical comedic moments at the start of the play.  She was physically engaged in her role and gave purpose to her actions throughout.  Sadly, on two occasions her words were lost as she turned away from our side of the audience.  I noticed others in the audience turning to their partners to capture what she had said.

Costume Design by Marg Horwell did not work for me at all.  I can understand the choices were made to update to contemporary times, but the colour palate was too bright with too much skin showing to capture the essence of the original play.  The black mourning outfits should have been used more, and should have been less revealing.

Set Design, also by Marg Horwell was probably the most striking aspect of the show with the use of louvered doors, air-conditioning units and mosquito traps.  This worked in concert with the Lighting Design by Rachel Burke.  Sound Design by Irine Vela was stereo -phonically atmospheric with the sounds of the outback.  These three aspects gave us some semblance of oppression to the play.

Direction by Leticia Caceres was variable at times.  Sadly the relationships between characters were not developed adequately and we witnessed a superficial reading of the play.  With work, refinement of the direction and some design aspects, this play could be vastly improved.

I wrote the following on Facebook:

"The Kenneth MacMillan ballet Las Hermanas did a better job in much less time.  Plus the musical Bernarda Alba is much more unrelenting.  The update with swearing did not ring true.   What a shame the MTC did not do this production in repertoire with the musical version.  It would an interesting comparison for viewers.  The daughters were not scared of their mother.  The best moment was Angela standing up to her mother.  Some vocal projection issues made it hard to hear two performers.  The set and lighting was atmospheric.  Sadly the girls did not physically show us the heat."

Overall, "The House of Bernarda Alba" obtained a 7/10.