This is how I would stage Act II Scene 1 (Washerwomen Scene). I think the play is very simple, so we've done it with plainness, emptiness. The setting is very simple,
When they go into the scene where the washerwomen come to the river to wash, the washerwomen bring in a long, white piece of material, a long white sheet, which becomes the laundry and the water. Again, the whole thing would is very abstract.
I would want the actors playing the washerwomen to be in two factions, showing the two sides of the arguments, one on one side of the river and one on the other. The women would all be different ages and would dress accordingly
Costumes help communicate information about both the characters and the location of the play. This helps the actors to feel more like their characters. Clothes convey information that the dialogue of the story may not. I wanted to support the poetic and romantic flavour of the play's language. The whole of the play enhances the text in a visual way.
The lighting design would be based on the fact that it is a world without the use of machinery, where people interact directly with the land and animals. Many of the scenes take place around dawn or dusk, the most exciting times of the day to light. Using naturalistic motivations for the lighting is appropriate because of the very low level of technology in the world and the possibilities presented by the times of day when the scenes take place. Another important aspect of this production is the play's roots in Surrealism. Throughout the course of the play as Yerma's desperation increases, the level of abstraction in the lighting also increases. At the end, we have achieved a surreal visual stage picture. I have chosen to think of Yerma as a series of dynamic paintings which chart the actions of the characters and the meaning of the play. This is evidenced by the structure of the play by the natural motivation for the light and by the surreal elements in the piece.
I’ve decided that the sound for Yerma has a two tasks. First, it must help establish location and time of day; animal sounds at the top of the show, things like morning birds and a rooster, will help tell the audience that it is early morning and that we are in the country. Another example would be the sound of a waterfall going into the washing scene, telling us that the women are approaching the stream. The second task of sound is to reinforce the actors' voices during the songs. By using microphones around the stage during the songs of the play, the actors' voices will be amplified. The idea is to help lift up their voices while trying to keep them sounding natural, not to make it seem like they are over-amplified like a rock concert or musical.
Federico García Lorca was heavily influenced by the classics. In Yerma, the Washerwomen of Act Two can be seen as García Lorca's Greek chorus. They gossip about Yerma's restlessness and how it is affecting Juan's reputation in the village. They then argue about whose fault it is when a woman cannot conceive a child.
Washerwoman 4: The husband's going back out to his fields again.
Washerwoman 1: But does anybody know what happened?
Washerwoman 5: She spent the whole night sitting out on the doorstep.
Washerwoman 1: Whatever for?
Washerwoman 4: She can’t stand it indoors.
Washerwoman 5: Some women get like that when they haven’t had kids – larking about on rooftops or paddling in rivers.
Washerwoman 1: Who are you to talk? It's not her fault she hasn’t had kids.
Washerwoman 4: Those that want them get them. But some of these girls don’t want to get a wrinkled belly.
They also discuss whether or not Yerma is justified in taking an interest in other men:
Washerwoman 4: …No looks at a rosebush the same way she looks at the bulge in a man’s trouser…
Washerwoman 1: Who was it then?
Washerwoman 4: Oh a certain someone. Do you want me to spell it out?...
Laughter from several of them
And when she's not looking at him, because she's alone and doesn't have him in front of her, she's got a picture of him in her eyes.
Washerwoman 1: That's a lie!
excited reactions
Washerwoman 5: And what about him?
Washerwoman 3: Oh he’s as dozy as a lizard in the sun.
They also sing of the sadness a barren woman experiences:
Washerwoman 1:
Alas, for the barren wife
Alas, for her sand-filled breasts
Washerwoman 5:
Tell me does your husband
Give you such a thing
That when you wash your petticoat
It makes the water sing.
García Lorca uses these women to show separate sides of an argument. By having some women side with Juan and others side with Yerma, García Lorca is exploring the different ideas that the Spanish society has about situations such as these. Here, the Washerwomen serve as a Greek chorus to disclose opposing philosophies about marriage, sterility and society.
