Bernarda Alba

Utilizing an all-female cast, The House of Bernarda Alba is a tragic drama set in Spain centered on the family and legacy of Bernarda Alba and her five daughters -- Angustias, Magdalena, Amelia, Martirio, and Adela, in descending order of age.  Her home also shelters the elder (and increasingly senile) mother of Bernarda, María Josefa, and their long-time maid, La Poncia.

 

The opera begins with the ringing of cathedral bells -- which peal out from the nearby church, in which the funeral of Bernarda’s second husband takes place.  Immediately, one notes that Bernarda is an exacting and unforgiving woman -- she frightens off the townswomen who enter after the funeral for their gossip and “poison tongues,” she feels little sympathy for those in poverty, and she frequently demands that her daughters withhold their emotions.  After driving away the townswomen, Bernarda demands that her daughters observe a strict eight year mourning period, during which all must continually wear black, remain indoors, tend their needlework, and keep themselves entirely chaste.  

 

Adela, the youngest daughter, is often the first and most vocal to rail against these many restrictions, speaking out against Bernarda whenever possible and, on one occasion, donning a bright green dress (while threatening to traipse down the street in it.)  Many of her sisters feel a similar strain, but rarely act or speak out.  La Poncia  maintains a double-edged relationship with the family, despising Bernarda for her exacting and heartless ways but acting as a surrogate mother for her unlucky and oft-abused daughters.  The grandmother, Maria Josefa, remains locked up in her room, but escapes on multiple occasions to sing lullabies or to state that she’s fleeing to the seashore to get married.

 

The primary source of conflict comes from a duplicitous suitor from the town -- Pepe el Romano, a man who proposes to marry the elder and sickly Angiustas for her wealth, but carries on nightly affairs with Adela.  (The second youngest, Martirio, also harbors feelings for Pepe, which mostly manifest in small outbursts and her eventual stealing of Angiustas’ portrait of him.)  Bernarda remains stubbornly unaware of this, but the maid, La Poncia, understands all too well -- on multiple occasions, she warns both Adela and Bernarda about the severity of the situation which threatens to spill over and ruin the family.  Neither budge.  Tensions build and build -- more and more arguments wrack the house, with Bernarda tries to stamps them out with biting curses (and some violence,) but it only works for so long.

 

Upon the announcement of Pepe’s engagement to Angiustas, Adela attempts to derail the situation: she reveals to Bernarda her frequent visits with Pepe (after such a visit,) and declares that she’ll “be his, regardless of the shame it brings.”  Livid, Bernarda grabs a gun from the wall and pursues Pepe outside, firing a shot.  Martirio re-enters, insinuating Pepe’s death.  Adela, aghast, flees to her room, where she hangs herself.  Upon discovering of her body, Bernarda ramps up her former restrictions -- demanding that “death must be addressed face to face” and that Adela be “buried as a virgin,” no matter who says otherwise.  The drama ends with Bernarda shouting one word, over and over: “silence.”