The House of Bernarda Alba
play by Federico García Lorca (1936)
Book · Open Library
- Author
- Federico García Lorca
- First published
- 1956
- Editions
- 14
- Subjects
- Spanish drama, Théâtre espagnol, Teatro espa~nol, Compendios, sinopsis, Translations into French, French drama, Puppet plays, Theater programs
via Open Library
Key facts
- Written by
- Federico García Lorca
- Characters
- Bernarda Alba (60), María Josefa (80s), Angustias (39), Magdalena (30), Amelia (27), Martirio (24), Adela (20), Maid (50), Poncia (60), Criada (50), Prudencia (50), Beggar woman, Little girl, Women mourners, First woman, Second woman, Third woman, Fourth woman, Girl
- Date premiered
- 8 March 1945
- Place premiered
- Avenida Theatre , Buenos Aires , Argentina
- Original language
- Spanish
- Genre
~7 min read
Article
The House of Bernarda Alba (Spanish: La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with Blood Wedding and Yerma as the Rural Trilogy. García Lorca did not include it in his plan for a "trilogy of the Spanish land" (which remained unfinished at the time of his murder).
García Lorca described the play in its subtitle as a drama of women in the villages of Spain. The House of Bernarda Alba was García Lorca's last play, completed on 19 June 1936, two months before his assassination during the Spanish Civil War. The play was first performed on 8 March 1945 at the Avenida Theatre in Buenos Aires. The play centers on the events of a house in Andalusia during a period of mourning, in which Bernarda Alba (aged 60) wields total control over her five daughters Angustias (39 years old), Magdalena (30), Amelia (27), Martirio (24), and Adela (20). The housekeeper (Poncia) and Bernarda's elderly mother (María Josefa) also live there.