La Casa de Bernarda Alba

Recently, sixth form students visited the Crescent theatre in Birmingham to watch a performance of ‘La Casa de Bernarda Alba’. The play is one of our set texts for A Level Spanish and as it was performed in Spanish by Spanish actors, we all found the experience extremely beneficial to our current studies. The plot can be quite difficult to follow when simply reading the play text, so watching the characters come to life on stage enabled us to differentiate the characters and emphasised the key themes, which we had studied in lessons.  With over 300 other students our age in the audience, the theatre was sold out, adding to the immersive and absorbing show. Fortunately, there were subtitles above the stage, which made the, at times quite difficult, Spanish dialogue a lot easier to follow. The characters in the play are all women, so the cast can be quite difficult to distinguish from one another; however, in the performance, each character was distinct in their appearance and personality, solidifying the themes and roles in our heads. The playwright Lorca, makes controversial and forward-thinking points in ‘La Casa de Bernarda Alba’, which are still shocking to watch today; seeing the moments of high emotion and tension on stage was an unique experience and has been critical to our understanding of the text. Overall, the trip was an exciting and invaluable opportunity that we are all very grateful for – and won’t be forgetting anytime soon!

Lily Hanson, Year 13