REVIEW: Heartwood's "The House of Bernarda Alba" an artistic triumph

(Review by Eleanor Cade Busby for the Lincoln County News)

Heartwood’s production of Federico Garcia Lorca’s final play” The House of Bernarda Alba” opened last weekend in Newcastle to sold-out houses.

The story expresses the costs of repressing the freedom of others through the story of Matriarch Bernada Alba. Her second husband has died, and we meet the family after the long funeral service. Bernarda explains to her five daughters that they will mourn for eight years, during which "not a breath of air will get in this house from the street."

It takes women comfortable in their own skin to play these characters. Lorca's women, all of them; including Bernarda, are slave to a culture with such rigid expectations that freedom is a foreign concept They exist in a culture of shame that turns each into her own jailer. The piece reminds us; although men lay down the societal laws in fascist, religious and dictatorial States, women most rigidly enforce them.

In the title role, arguably one of the most despicable characters seen onstage, Millie Santiago gives the tyrannical, cane-wielding matriarch an aura of invincible drop-dead glamour and snobbish complacency. Santiago's tone-perfect Andalusian dialect, her ramrod straight carriage and even the narrowing of her eyes as Bernada, make the character a fully realized woman. That Santiago makes this virago accessible to a modern audience is a testament to her skill.

She delivers her lines in a deep, lethal purr, sending ice through the veins as one listens. It takes an irrepressible actor of fine-tuned accomplishment to bring Bernarda to life and Maine theatergoers will be privileged to witness such a performance.

The daughters, each subservient, are expected to remain eight years locked behind the doors of the house, in mourning for their father. They arrive, a dovecot in black mantillas, and murmur responsively in a liturgy led by their mother. They fan themselves against stifling heat, their fans the only wings these flightless birds will have, grounded by the domineering Bernarda.

The eldest daughter, Mary Boothby as Angustias, is the child of Bernarda’s first husband, and has inherited the property of her father. Boothby’s character is engaged to an unseen man who meets with her only at her window, talking each evening.

The deliberate exclusion of any male character from the action helps build up the high level of sexual tension that is present throughout the play. Pepe "el Romano" may be after the money but he is the passion of three of the sisters, thereby laying the groundwork for tragedy.

The sisters Elise Voigt (Magdalena), Katie Matzell (Amelia) and Rowan Carroll-Christopher (Martirio) show us repression, the effects of being stifled for years, and conformity. They exhibit pent-up sexual frustration illustrated by the stallion that is kicking at the stable wall.

The youngest, Adela, Maddy Sherril bursts with passion and determination. She is the only one to stand up to Bernarda. Her bright, defiant appearance in a green dress is the only spot of color in the production. Her youth and joy are the only indicators of the hope of a Spring for these women.

La Ponica, (Beverly Mann) knows the family secrets, speaks almost honestly to Bernarda, and heads the household staff. The Maid, Nancy-Grace Dersham, who makes her character human by asking for a bit of sausage for her hungry child, assists her. Dersham and Mann open the story, scrubbing, arranging, and serving the whims of the tyrannical Bernarda Alba.

The house also has a prisoner even more confined in body than the rest, Bernarda’s mother María Josefa. As Maria Josefa, Margo Morrison O'Leary breaks free of her confinement with a touching determination to live a life of love away from her daughter’s iron rule. O’Leary in ragged Bridal clothing brings this “Miss Havisham” a distinct Meryl Streep elegance. She carries herself with an echo of former grandeur that is heartbreaking and oddly charming with madness as her only path to freedom.

The outsider, Kim Fletcher’s townswoman Prudencia, is the only person not confined by Bernarda Alba’s rule. Fletcher’s accent, true to Andalusia, was spot on, and all will readily recognize her gossipy neighbor. She is that one you tell when you want the world to know, and fear when you wish to keep a secret.

Heartwood's haunting and visually handsome production of the 1936 Lorca classic is performed in about 95 minutes with no intermission. Director Griff Braley, who staged and designed the entire production, has outdone himself with the moody set of Alba’s stark home.

The stone walls and floors, weighty and bare of any decoration, serve as a prison to the family. Light does not dare to look upon this home, peeking instead at angles and over the top of the walls in patches, occasionally allowing the image of some activity in the fields outside to be shadowed on a wall.

The production is a marvel of carefully built-up, beautifully lit atmosphere with kudos to Tech Director Letitia Munson who realized the designs.

Spanish guitar music enhances and moves the story, performed by guest artist and acclaimed flamenco guitarist, Juanito Pascual, of Boston. Juanito Pascual. His original compositions strike true and the live performance allows the artist the ability to adjust to the moment, often underscoring a scene subtly.

Pascual is seen only in silhouette behind a large window that sits above the center of the set, on the top of Bernanda Alba’s wall. This shape of a man, framed and playing music both moody and passionate, is a deft touch. The dark shadow hangs over them, like the one man they all desire hangs over the lives of the five Alba sisters.

This is a tragedy, make no mistake, but it is also a piece that will have people talking and examining how we support or repress one another and the possible consequences. This theatrical piece entertains, in its polished and professional way, and opens the doors to conversation.

It is an unambiguous compliment to say that walking out at the end into the cool, bracing air of Newcastle was like emerging from a week's incarceration in a peculiarly stifling prison. People were talking in whispers as they left, interpreting this and that and disagreeing with one another about the ‘meaning.’

For this reviewer there was nothing more compelling than the urge to hire the services of Yonkers matchmaker Dolly Levi and get those girls away from their mother.

For a performance you will discuss and ponder, and a fine theatrical experience, do not miss Heartwood’s “The House of Bernarda Alba,” which continues next weekend July 26, 27, 28 at 7:30 pm and Sunday July 29 at 3:00. Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for student, for reservations call 563-1373.