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Published: 2 February, 2012
by AMY SMITH

Lorca’s most produced play, The House of Bernarda Alba, has been transplanted from 1936 to modern-day Iran, by Emily Mann at the Almeida.

Only weeks after completing the play, Lorca was arrested and assassinated because of the text’s reference to the fascist regime.

This makes the change of location even more pertinent in a time when Iran can be dangerous for any critics of Ahmadinejad.

One of the opening scenes sets the bar for a visually striking experience. A group of grieving shadored women fill the whitewashed walls of the set and pray in syncopated rhythms.

The fact that there are no further mass choreographed scenes and the unsteady presence of the Iranian context are perhaps the show’s only letdowns.

Shohreh Aghdashloo’s portrayal of Bernarda Alba is mesmerising, every inch the TV soap baddie, with arched eyebrows, a ridiculously husky voice and the vicious putdowns.

Bernarda is a dictator in her own home and rules over her staff and five daughters with violence.

Though this is an all-female production, men are ever-present through sound – the call to prayer, the workers’ song, the baying of the mob and the whistle of the village Lothario, Parvis Romany.

Lorca described The House of Bernarda Alba as a photographic document, a snapshot of reality.

Jon Clark’s visually stunning light design builds on this concept with blinding flashes of light to separate the scenes.

His subtle handling of the passage of time breathes life into the set.

Bunny Christie’s design of the Alba household successfully imposes with its weight and suggestion of oppression.

Bernarda’s daughters cling, drape and climb the walls as they try to escape the restrictions of their everyday life, not only imposed by their position in society but also in a household governed by fear and jealousy.

Aghdashloo is joined by an extremely strong cast with special mentions for the commanding Jane Bertish as servant Darya and Amanda Hale’s fragile Elmira.

The result is a brooding and intense tragedy.

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