García Lorca’s theater, a safe value

Despite its multiple versions, any work by García Lorca is a safe value. All we have to do is take a look at the success of the call for this work by Andolini Producciones, a new installment of ‘La Casa de Bernarda Alba’ which, except for the title, it is quite faithful to the original work.

However, it is a somewhat misleading fidelity since Sergio Rodríguez dispenses with two characters that in the original work are not at all gratuitous: Magdalena and Amelia. Thus, the entire conflict is settled between the other three sisters: Angustias, the eldest, Martirio, the hunchback, and Adela, the youngest. In this sense, it should be noted that the adaptation achieves that Lorca’s voice Do not miss. Quite the contrary, if something stands out in this new show, it is precisely the richness of the text by the distinguished playwright from Granada.

In his role as director, Sergio Rodriguez build a staging away from artifices, with a minimalist setting (only two chairs), a rather sparse soundtrack (two songs) and a timeless wardrobe, except for the sisters’ shoes, which incomprehensibly refers to a more current aesthetic. In this way, all the weight of the work falls on the text and its interpretation, although it should be noted that the lighting, by Rodríguez himself, surrounds the characters and enhance the drama of history in some passages.

Although the cast is somewhat irregular and at times it abuses overacting, the work has some masterful performances, such as those of Mer Lozano in her role as Poncia and that of Alba Suarez in Adele’s. Marina Hidalgo portrays the tyrannical character of Bernarda well, and Esperanza Querino and Carmen Boza endow their characters with an acceptable degree of humanity, thanks to a rigorous naturalistic treatment that even leads them to portray the fights with a good dose of violence, perhaps too much because at times it is a bit excessive. However, it is fair to acknowledge that they achieve bring the conflict to the fore, which is not easy considering that two characters are missing.

But the absence of these two characters takes its toll on the rhythm, which is somewhat dense, given the continuous entrances and exits of the characters on stage and the simplicity of the transitions, that are limited to leaving the scenic space empty, and in some moments even longer than necessary. Nothing that can’t be fixed with a little more life on stage.

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