BWW Reviews: Actors Bridge and Belmont's HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA is 'Fascinating and Mesmerizing'

Tyrannical and imperious, Bernarda Alba rules her five daughters with an iron-fisted vehemence in Actors Bridge Ensemble and Belmont University Theatre's presentation of Federico Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, which marks the return to the stage of Vali Forrister, Actors Bridge producing artistic director, after a far too long six-year absence.

Directed by Jessika Malone, Lorca's masterpiece is the latest collaborative effort from Actors Bridge and Belmont University Theatre, which afford students the opportunity to work alongside professional actors, honing their craft while presenting compelling theater for a discerning audience.

Written in 1936-only months before the playwright was killed by fascists during the Spanish Civil War-The House of Bernarda Alba is theater at its most riveting, relating a tale of repression and  oppression as the apparently omniscient Bernarda rides roughshod over her unmarried daughters, ruling their lives with barely suppressed disdain and unbridled rage. Set in an Andalusian village-in which class and social standing are predetermined by centuries of sexist, patriarchal tradition-Bernarda rails against her daughters, brandishing her walking stick, or sometimes even a horsewhip, to drive home her point (that they are her chattel through whom she will gain more wealth and prestige) and to retain complete and total control of what transpires within the walls of her house.

Forrister takes on the challenging role with a resolute confidence, commanding the stage with her tightly coiled rage, gleefully exacting her revenge at her place in male-dominated society by railing against her daughters (and her aged mother, whom she keeps locked in an upstairs room) first, the poor people of the village second, and at the vagaries of life in general  third.

Forrister approaches the role much as you would expect: She's studied and controlled, yet simmering barely beneath the surface is a horrifyingly repellant nature that breathes fire into Bernarda's heart while maintaining the frigid temperatures of her character's blue blood. By refusing to see the truth about her daughters' perceived mesalliances (despite lives lived coldly in their mother's all-eclipsing shadow), she allows herself to succumb to that which she so purposely seeks to avoid: the wrath of sexual passion that looses all manner of tragedy upon the family.

Forrister's extraordinary performance leaves you transfixed, her total control enveloping the theater as you might expect from the force of nature that Lorca has created in Bernarda, herein brought so vividly to life by Malone's captivating vision for the piece.

We first meet Bernarda and her daughters as they return home from the funeral for her second husband, but we have already learned much about her via the gossipy conversation between her servant Poncia (played with nuanced ferocity by the sublime Rachel Agee) and her housemaid (Grace Kelly Mason) who obviously revile their mistress, yet are completely dependent upon staying in her good graces in order to continue to provide for their families. So, with the stage set for Bernarda's initial entrance (thanks to the servants' retelling of her high-handed ways and total dominance of the household),  Forrister enters as Bernarda, with the regal bearing of a much-feared and much-maligned monarch, ruling her family with an unyielding sense of purpose.

And despite Bernarda's control of seemingly every moment in her daughter's lives, her decision to allow the oldest daughter Angustias to marry-Angustias is the wealthiest of the five, thanks to her inheritance from her father, Bernarda's first husband-the village's most eligible bachelor, Pepe el Romano, helps to unravel her life and the very control which she exerts so unrepentingly. Pepe, though never seen onstage, demonstrates his own remarkable control over the sisters by providing much of the dramatic tension and the ensuing consequences of the artfully crafted onstage action, which sets sister against sister, which undermines Bernarda's thorough dominance.

Bernarda's quintet of daughters is played by an estimable ensemble of young actresses matriculating in the theater program at Belmont University. The 2011-12 season at Belmont University Theatre has provided a showcase for the women enrolled in the program, and The House of Bernarda Lorca pairs quite nicely with the season-opening Dancing at Lughnasa (which featured performances by Adrienne Hall, Gina D'Arco and Kyla Lowder-all of whom are in this ensemble-and other noteworthy young actors).

Adrienne Hall plays the eldest, Angustias (her age is changed from 39-as written by Lorca-to 32 in order that Hall look closer to the proper age), with a tightly wound sense of self-preservation, invoking her sisters' jealousies while she manages to retain the audience's favor. Hall shows off more of her impressive range in this performance, which nicely counterbalances her earlier role as the slightly slower and ill-fated sister in Dancing at Lughnasa.

Kyla Lowder, as Martirio (whose name means "martyr," an attribute Martirio wears on her sleeve, neatly on display right next to her hungry heart), gives a superb (if unexpectedly so; clearly, she's an actress of note) performance. The inferiority that Lowder invests in Martirio (or vice versa) is palpably felt, her reading of the role on-target and moving.

As Bernarda's youngest daughter Adela, Natalie Thompson seems younger and more emotionally driven than the others, which perfectly captures the character created by Lorca. Although she seems somewhat shrill in her delivery, it is that shrillness that so adroitly captures Adela's youthful exuberance. Her longing for a life outside the confines of her mother's purview propels Adela headlong into the horrific reality which is certain to follow her misguided dalliance with her sister's suitor.

Hanna Walters (as the grief-stricken Magdalena) and Gina D'Arco (as the chattering, yet submissive Amelia) complete the quintet with finely hewn performances that are noteworthy in their range and each actress' confident approach to her role.

Rachel Agee, one of Nashville's most compelling actresses, shows off her talents as she rants and raves about Bernarda's high-handed ways and she more than holds her own in her onstage interactions with Forrister's Bernarda, adding richly hued colors to her character with her innate sense of stagecraft and her complete focus.

Completing the cast are Diana Holland (who has some very good moments as Bernarda's half-crazed mother who imagines her daughter feeding her dog meat and dishwater), Kelly Lapczynski (appropriately haughty as Bernarda's well-heeled friend), and Meredith Locke and Rose Eichhorn as a beggar woman and her starving child.

Lorca's play is played out against the backdrop of Paul Gattrell's exquisitely designed and beautifully realized set-Moorish by design, the multi-level set is punctuated by crucifixes and rosaries hanging on the walls, religious artifacts that further underscore Bernarda's blind devotion to the teachings of the Catholic Church, which she interprets to grant her full rein over the lives of those who dwell in her house. Mitch Massaro's expressive lighting design adds visual power to the proceedings and Jessica Mueller's costume designs help to delineate the themes employed by the playwright in providing authenticity to his play.

Matt Sandbank of Wild Goose Chase Theater provides amazing puppetry for the production-performed with aplomb by captain Luke Hatmaker, along with Rachel Gowan, Megan Richardson, Kate Moncuse, Dallas Woods and Miles Gatrell-that underscores the events playing out onstage and which provide a wonderful visual element that makes the storytelling in The House of Bernard Alba all the more fascinating and mesmerizing.

-The House of Bernarda Alba. By Federico Garcia Lorca. Directed by Jessika Malone. Presented by Actors Bridge Ensemble and Belmont University Department of Theatre and Dance. At the Troutt Theatre, Nashville. Through February 26. For details, go to www.actorsbridge.org.

 

Vali Forrister as Bernarda Alba/photo by Rick King, RIK Photography

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