CONTEXT –House of Bernarda Alba

 

• What is the name and who is /are the author/s of the show you are performing in?
• Who is directing it?
• What genre of theatre is your show and why do you think this? (Circus? Dance? Cabaret? Physical theatre? Classical theatre? Modern theatre? Musical theatre?)
• What is it about and who are the key characters?
• What part are you playing and why do you think you have been cast in this role?
• When is the show set and how is this important to the way the production is being developed?
• When was this show first performed, how did people react to it and why do you think this was? Why do you think an audience would still be interested in seeing a new version of this show?
• What style of production will it be and how will it be staged? (e.g. modern, classical, avant garde, proscenium, thrust, promenade, in the round?)
• What performance experience do you and the other cast members have and how will this affect the process of developing this production?
• What are the implications, for a performer, of putting on this kind of show?
• What is the time scale over which the show is being produced? How will you manage this time so that you are fully ready to perform to the public? How many performances will you be doing?
• Where is your show being performed and therefore, what production elements will the show be able to include?
• What kinds of people are likely to attend your show? How is your show being advertised? What else will you need to do to make sure that your show will sell out?

 

Context UAL definition: The level of intellectual analysis, critical evaluation and understanding of the self and the broader context within which the extended or collaborative project is situated

Fail                  Limited understanding of subject context, lacking clarity in aims and purpose.

Pass                 Understanding of subject context used appropriately to make judgments, describe aims and clarify purpose.

Merit               Good understanding and knowledge of subject context used to make sound judgments, articulate ambitions and clarify purpose.

Distinction     Comprehensive understanding and knowledge of subject context used to  communicate complex concepts, articulate ambitions and clarify purpose

The above statements are guides to how evidence for the final unit (8) will be assessed. Tutors will let you know in their feedback how your evidence for these units compares to these achievement standards so that you are aware of the level you are currently working at.

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The house of Bernarda Alba

At my first term hear at con-EAST I have recently been cast in a play called The House of Bernarda Alba, this play was first published on the 19th of June 1936 by a Spanish poet and play writer Federico Garcia Lorca. The show is currently being directed by Poppy and Bridie and will be performed at the con-EAST theatre on the 1st-3dr of November 2018 (three shows in total). We have approximately six and a half weeks to produce this grate play so I have to make sure I use my time wisely to learn my lines, also making shore I attends every rehearsal so i am fullyup to daitwith new work. Addition to this, some ways we are advertising are through social media (Facebook, Instagram and twitter), also postures around the college. The type of audience we are expecting are more of an elder generation as it has valance and sexual innuendos/comments. 

I have been given the privilege to play a main role in the play as the character known as Adela youngest daughter of Bernarda. One reason I may have been cast this role is because I can relate to my character, I am young and still have youth this helps me feel her emotion of being grounded by her mother. However it’s not just my ability to play a young happy girl I have to flip into a grown woman who stand up for herself.

In some parts it’s historically accurate and displays futures you would find in Spain during the civil war 1936 (the year the play was set). The time period is very important as whilst developing the show there are elements we have to think about to make shoe it fits appropriately. An example is the pronunciation, I have to make shore this is impeccable as dropped vowels would not be in this time period. Continuing from this thinking about my body language and how a young lady would hold herself in an professional manner, we need to hold our shoulders back and sit appropriately at all times.

The play was first performed on 8 March 1945 at the Avenida Theatre in Buenos Aires. I was unable to find much information about the audiences initial reaction to the play, this may be due to the age of the play and how it is not the most well known show. This means I am unable to compere the reactions from the past to the present.However I think an audience would still be interested in this play as in today’s society we still relate to some themes displayed in this play, one example being reputation. This is still strong and illustrated through Social media, now a day people are engaged to how many followers or likes they have. Most people on social media don’t show there bad sides and they will go to extreme lengths to make shore of it. Essentially Bernarda demonstrates the same effect, for instance at Adela’s death she lies to everyone and says she died a virgin to uphold her reputation.

The style of the play is performed classical and the staging is set in prosimian arch. Some implications as a performer or audience is the suicide/death scene as this is a strong subjects that some people may sadly relate to. This means in the development proses we had to be courses about the subject and the way we are going to perform it.

Throughout the production, several themes intertwine together creating a devastating turn of events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character Adela (who I play).Most of the themes and events displayed in the play are not pretty and sweet, how you would expect a family of young girls; however they are meaningful and packed of life altering significance and decisions.

For instance, Bernarda’s love of gossiping and desire to know everything that goes on with the neighbours however, contradicting her fear of the village people finding out about her family. This this creates contrast between her private and her public appearance, clearly showing the audience that she puts up a façade in front of the public; as many distressing thing occur in their family.

The genre of this show is naturalistic however it also contains elements of abstract theatre. In terms of performances everything is realistic and natural. Each character is played as realistic as possible avoiding any exaggeration of movements and tonality this way it attempts to create the reality aspect. In addition to this the social aspect of the characters are portrayed so it’s not just a play about the upper class; it exposes the reality of life, meaning that the play’s focus is less its simple plot and more the atmosphere created around it.
In some parts it’s historically accurate and displays futures you would find in Spain during the civil war 1936 (the year the play was set). An example of this is their actions and how there grounded by there environment. However the chores members are portrayed differently, they adapt drama techniques such as physical theatre there by creating an abstract feature. One way this is illustrated is by the set, it’s an abstract set on stage and very staggered not natural. Another way is there movements and at times creating suspense. How this is done is though head turns and mine in stories though movement.

production arts

Production art’s play a big part in our play as we have a intricate set, we are having three scaffolding flats to create walls and rooms. This will then be decorated with photo frames and curtains to create windows, this means it with develop into becoming the set. Another thing they have made for the show is a baby lamb for Maria Josefa’s song it is very realistic as it moves like a real lamb.

Character list

Bernarda– The head strong, oppressive mother of the family, she is sixty years old. She is persistent on keeping her daughters on a tight leash and keeping up an exquisite reputation in front of the village people; she is willing to use violence’s and black mail to do this.
Angustias– Bernarda’s oldest daughter, she is the only daughter who has a different father. Her name translates roughly to “anguish” an unhappy and ill-favoured woman, she is the only daughter how is engaged (to Pepe el Romano).
Adela– The youngest daughter of Bernarda at only twenty years old and the most beautiful and passionate although she can still possess childish features due to her limitations of freedom, one example of this is her dressing up in a lovely green dress. She is the only one of the five how openly disobeys her mother. Feather more she has a secret affair with her sister’s fiancé Pepe el Romano until Martirio captures them; this creates a family argument creating her to hang herself. Her name is from the Spanish verb “adelantar” this means moving on or to overtake.
Martirio– She was previously engaged to a man however this was destroyed by Bernarda. She is the second youngest daughter secretly in love with Pepe el Romano this leads to her steeling a photo of him from Angustias’s. She is tends to lie to get out of situations and love to snitch on her little sister Adela to her mother. It is her manipulation that courses Adela to hang herself. Her name means “martyrdom”(death and suffering).
Amelia– Bernarda’s middle daughter, she’s roughly 30 years old. She loves to gossip however she is the most obedient and virtually obeys Bernarda’s every word.
Magdalena– “Leopard head” as her grandma Maria Josefa likes to call her. She is the second-oldest daughter aged at thirty years old. She’ bitter and has a sharp tong at times, however she shows a lot of emotion during the play. More over possibly the daughter with the most educated sense of what restrictions a woman faces in their world in that time period.
Maria Josefa– Bernarda’s Mother spends the majority of her time locked up by Bernarda. she appears senile and long to leave the house to be married and bear children. in spite of her apparent dementia, her words are often with truth. Her name comes from the parents of Jesus, Mary and joseph.
La Poncia– She is the head maid of the house and knows Bernarda very well; she believes that god sent her to the house for a reason. She is sixty years old and is a voice of intelligence. She has a strong bond with Adela guiding her from a young age as a mother figure, although they have there arguments.

Synopsis
The entire play is set in Bernarda’s house, where she lives with her five daughters, her maid La Poncia, and several other servants. The Alba family lives in a small village in Andalusia, a region of Spain.
Act I opens with the funeral of Bernarda’s husband the family and some mourners are in the home. They discuss whether Pepe el Romano, a local young man they expect to propose to Bernarda’s eldest daughter Angustias. Discussed by the gossip Bernarda ends the visit and the mourners leave. She then tells her daughters they must go through eight-year mourning for her husband. Adela, the youngest, immediately shows that she’s a free spirit and won’t be easily crushed by Bernarda’s repression. Feather more there is talk that Angustias proposal from Pepe el Romano, and how all of the girls are interested in men but Bernarda prohibits it. Adela meanwhile is playing with the chickens in her lovely green dress not appropriate for morning but continues going against her mother. The sisters talk about how Pepe has been staying late talking with Angustias, but there are thoughts that he might be staying for someone else. Martirio implies that Adela has been carrying out an affair with Pepe. They all argue until news comes of a local girl who had a baby un-wedded, so ashamed she murdered her baby and the locals marched after her and killed her. Bernarda agrees with the vicious murder of an innocent woman; Adela disagrees since she may be in a similar situation. Later, Adela sneaks outside (to meet Pepe), past Maria Josefa holding a lamb and singing pretending it’s her baby. However Martirio starts to follow By the time Maria Josefa is put back to bed, Adela renters they both fight wake everyone up. Adela announces she is with Pepe, and Bernarda runs offstage with a shotgun to shoot him. When Martirio enters to tell them Pepe is dead, Adela runs off stage to hang herself, not knowing Martirio was telling a cruel lie and that Pepe had actually escaped.After they find the body Bernarda demands Adela be buried as a virgin.

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Referencing

• (civil war information, Hhistory, 22/10/18) https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spanish-civil-war-breaks-out
• (show dates, Wikipedia,22/10/18)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_Bernarda_Alba
• (name translations, gradsaver, 19/10/18) https://www.gradesaver.com/the-house-of-bernarda-alba/study-guide/summary
• (proscenium arch information, theatre design, 20/10/18)https://theatredesigner.wordpress.com/theatre-design-101/stage-types-proscenium-arch/

 

Why do you think an audience would still be interested in seeing a new version of this show?

What performance experience do you and the other cast members have and how       will this affect the process of developing this production?                                             What are the implications, for a performer, of putting on this kind of show?
Where is your show being performed and therefore, what production elements will the show be able to include?
What kinds of people are likely to attend your show? How is your show being advertised?                                                                                                                                        What else will you need to do to make sure that your show will sell out?