UT play addresses oppression

Two months after completing "The House of Bernarda Alba," a play which warns of the dangers of authoritarianism and oppression, playwright Federico Lorca was murdered by fascists as they took over in the Spanish Civil War.

Outside the entrance to the Center Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts sits a wall of newspaper clippings, artwork and graffiti. Red spray paint scrawls the words "Let them live their lives!" over photographs and headlines of civil rebellions in the Middle East.

In the face of modern oppression and intolerance both abroad and domestic, the allegorical warnings of the dangers of fascism and repression in "The House of Bernarda Alba" ring true today.

"[The play] is an example of what [oppression] can do, what it means and how it thrives in fear and in pain. It is born out of such feelings and it exerts those same feelings," said Megan Aherne, who plays the role of Amelia and researched the play and the issues surrounding it as dramaturge.

"Lorca presents fascism through the guise of familial drama," she said. "He is making a very strong political statement through the drama of women in a household, and you can dissect and separate that message into several different aspects."

Written in 1936 during the fascist takeover of Spain, the play tells the story of five daughters struggling against each other and themselves as they seek to define their lives under the tyrannical rule of their mother Bernarda Alba, played by JoEllen Jacob.

Central in the conflict is the possible marriage of the eldest sister, Angustias, played by Ashley Stephens, to Pepe el Romano, played by Phillipe Taylor.

Under the severely repressive reign of their mother, the daughters are forced to resort to deception and deceit as they fight against human nature and their undeniable desires. Sexual tension, rebellion, desire, jealousy and mistrust are front and center as the daughters vie for fulfillment under repressive tradition and the stringency of the mother.

"All of the daughters are hiding things that they want to do – acting rebelliously because they are so oppressed. There are things that they are feeling that they are told that they aren't allowed to feel," Aherne said. "These girls are experiencing some kind of arrested development in their adolescence, which immediately calls for rebellion against the powers that be; in this case, it's Bernarda. I don't believe that they do so maliciously: they are just trying to experience and see life because they are unable to. They may seem immature, but that's only because they've never been able to develop and because they've never been able to live, and again that all stems from oppression."

The acting is strong throughout the cast. Jacob is severe and unrelenting as Bernarda Alba, with a rigid presence that instantly changes the atmosphere of the theatre whenever she steps on stage, supplementing the swelling tension of the play.

Tyria Allen provides a foil for Bernarda as the house servant Poncia, with wisdom and wit to match Bernarda's severity; Allen brings the character to life with a perfect mix of sass, attitude, and humor to balance the foreboding building throughout the production.

The grace and strong dance background of Taylor and Starr Chellsea Cutino, in the role of the youngest daughter Adela, are showcased in the intimate scenes the two share.

Jillian Albert presents the conflicted and jealous Martirio well, particularly during her explosive conflicts with Cutino.

While the plot and elements of the story suggest a setting in the early 1900s, the production specifies no certain time period, opting to expand the context of the play into modern times. The daughters rebel in private by reading teen magazines, smoking Marlboros, drinking Coca-Cola and ogling a poster of "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner.

These elements combine with the inclusion of modern music before the show and during intermission and projections of scenes from modern rebellions in the Middle East to extend the meaning of the play beyond its roots in fascist Spain into a farther-reaching warning against totalitarianism.

"The script calls for headscarves, but it doesn't call for cigarettes, which are more of a modern faux pas. Mainly in the presentation and design of the set we brought the text to a more modern light," Aherne said.

While the oppression of women in the Middle East is an immediate and apt example of the dangers of modern oppression, Aherne points out that the issue is farther-reaching.

"It is definitely [an issue] that needs to be addressed because it's not only relevant to those countries in the Middle East; this is relevant to America today. It is present in every society," she said. "In aspects of all life, there are aspects of oppression, and I believe that it's very important for people to realize the presence of oppression and what it can do to people."

The play will be performed in the Center for Performing Arts Center Theatre Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $9 for students, $11 for faculty, staff, alumni, and seniors, and may be purchased in person at the box office located in room 1036D in the Center for Performing Arts, over the phone at (419) 530 – 2375, or online at http://www.utoledo.edu/BoxOffice.