(photo by Barbara Pedrick)
Lina de Guevara has also used Theatre of the Oppressed techniques when producing traditional plays. She directed Lorca’s “House of Bernarda Alba” for Victoria’s Full Spectrum Productions.
Director’s Comments:
This project came about because a group of Victoria actors felt a need to work in depth, for an unlimited time and without constraints, with a very good play.
(photo by Barbara Pedrick)
We chose one of the masterpieces of Spanish theatre, Federico Garcia Lorca’s The house of Bernalda Alba, a powerful, complex play that provides several strong roles for women and gives an extraordinary insight into human nature and the historical realities that have shaped many women’s lives. Because oppression is one of the topics of the play, we chose to use Theatre of the Oppressed exercises to work on character development.
(photo by Barbara Pedrick)
At first, we did not assign roles. Instead, we each played all the roles, and this provided an interesting variety of perspectives on the characters. We worked in this way for a year, meeting once a week. Most of the people in this production were part of the process since the beginning. We feel we really went inside The House of Bernarda Alba and that we got to know Bernarda, her daughters, her servants, and the reasons why their lives unfold as they do.
The House of Bernarda Alba, by Federico García Lorca
CAST
Martirio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janice Belcher
Magdalena . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .Catherine Glichrist
Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jill Groves
Angustias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trish Hamilton
Maria Josefa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Avril King
Poncia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judith McDowell
Beggar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Romina Miranda
Amelia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Susa Oñate
Adela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kate Rubin
Bernarda Alba .. . . . . . . . . . . . Kate Wilkinson
Village Women . . . . . . . . . . . . Mervat Babbe, Barbara Chester, Melissa Cornier,
Antoinette Church, Lou-Ann Edgar, Debbie Foley,
Ruth Miranda, Tony Montgomery, Josie Newman, Daphne
Sagastume, Elizabeth Thomas, Norren Walmsley,
Chesca Zamboni.
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lina de Guevara
Set Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Owen Lucas
Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen Smith
Sound Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick Pothier , Lina de Guevara
Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . Margaret Lopatecki
More Director’s comments:
“The house of Bernarda Alba” (1996) by Federico García Lorca was not a PUENTE production, but fulfilled its mandate of bringing theatre from other countries into Canada to increase awareness of other cultures. I revised the translation and work shopped and directed the play. It was an important experience for me. By concentrating so much on creating PUENTE’s own plays based on the immigrant experience, I was, in a way, limiting the use of my own knowledge and experience of the great works of art created in other times and cultures. I did feel the need of extending my possibilities, of sharing creations from cultures closer to my own culture of birth and different from the mostly Anglo Saxon theatre that surrounded me. “The house of Bernarda Alba” gave me the opportunity of working with an author I knew well and loved, of introducing him to my fellow actors. It provided me with the challenge of dealing with a language, a temperament and a history very different from the one that surrounded me. It allowed me to experiment with rehearsal methods and length of the rehearsal process. I followed Andre Gregory’s experiment with “Uncle Vania on 42nd St” in which this play was rehearsed by a company of experienced actors for over a year. We got a group of interested performers and started meeting once a week to rehearse leisurely. We read one act of the play at each session, and proceeded to workshop scenes, using many of Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed techniques: image theatre, rainbow of desire, cops in the head, etc. They helped the participants reach a visceral understanding of their characters and situations and were instrumental in securing the success of these productions. Actors got a chance of playing many roles; I played all the roles at one point or another. This helped me enormously as a director in my understanding of the characters. After a year of this kind of work we decided that we either produced the play or stopped our meetings. We had explored enough! I was very happy with the staged version. It was a detailed production, the characters were well rounded, and the story emerged in all its drama, its beauty and complexity. As a director working with an author from my own culture and language I experimented a surge of energy and creativity, widening everybody’s horizons including my own. “The House of Bernarda Alba” project taught me that it was important to leave space in my work to attend to my own needs as an artist.