The set was in Bernarda Alba’s house which was a grand mansion with a gilt, lofty ceiling. I think the towering interior clearly represented the distorted mind of Bernarda Alba. The house was a very open, free place for the girls to roam around in. It had a courtyard in the centre, light green walls making it seem larger and many plants, showing the outside was brought inside. I felt this was a success as the set showed how Bernarda Alba didn’t want the girls to leave the house as there were closed shutters down to the floor; this showed the girls were isolated from the outside world. The set designer has evidently striven to create a physical space which represented psychological unease
There were four stone pillars which I feel could have represented four of the daughters and the last daughter was represented by the drain shaped as a cross on the courtyard, which showed she died. I also felt that the pillars were successful as they might signify the house is like a prison for the girls, and they are the bars. There were two stained glass windows one which was broken which gave a sense that once there father had died there was no one else to fix it as Bernarda Alba won’t let any other man fix it because of the fear of her girls getting involved in men. It also could be there to signify that the girl’s dreams are broken as they are trapped in the house.
The lighting was naturalistic; as it showed the different times of the day and the direction of the lighting. They used yellow lighting which looked like it was shining through the windows to represent a bright, sunny, hot day and grey/blue lighting was used for moonlight when they were eating the meal in the evening. Realism was created through the lighting successfully as you could see gobos representing the shapes of the windows projected on the floor and the light was brighter where the windows were. At one point in the play an unnatural red light effectively was used when a baby dies to symbolize the death, blood and murder. Realistic sound effects such as thunder, people, a clock, a bell, a horse, a dog and a bang also made the play come to life as they were used in the right places at there right time as well as the classical music used to create tension.
The costumes worked well at the start of the play to show what the scene was about when their father has just died and there was a funeral in their house. The characters are all dressed in black dresses and head scarf’s to show they are mourning. After the funeral characters change back into there own clothes. The costumes they change into work in effect to show the period of the piece and they show the accurate personalities of the characters. All the costumes are unrevealing thirties clothes; ankle length skirts, tights, short sleeve tops with patterns on in plain colours and dark dull shoes. The girl’s costumes worked well as unrevealing as it showed that there mother could have controlled what they wear to make sure they weren’t sexually attractive to men or to convince the community that the girls were virgins, so the family weren’t disgraced. The girls also wore flat shoes possibly to portray them as innocent where as the older women would where high heels. Bernarda is sombrely dressed and has a vestige of style, this worked successfully as it showed she is a serious character. The maid wore raggy, old, scruffy clothing with a blue apron which showed she cleaned but also that she is of a lower class.
Adela is the youngest daughter and the most attractive who is bubbly, passionate and rebellious. The director showed her as wild, playful and young effectively by her movement, she would move around the stage quickly and boldly compared to other characters. She had her hair out, no head scarf and bare feet; this went against her mother’s rules showing she was rebellious. Bernarda Alba has a clear moral code for her daughters and is hypocritical. Bernarda Alba came across as controlling by her strict tone of voice. It was successful the way the director showed the girls as fearful of the mother. Every time someone would stroll in the room they would jump as they thought it was their mother and if their mother did come in they would sit down immediately and sit in silence sewing. If their mother asked them a question you would hear a fearful tremble in their voice as they replied showing they lived in fear of their mother. Another way in which the actors of the girls were effective is the way they reacted to men. The only men the girls would ever see apart from their father, was the man who delivers the fabric. So in the play when Pepe came to the door all the girls would get excited and start jumpy around screaming as they ran out the door.
I feel this play was generally a very successful piece of realistic drama because of the set, costumes, lighting and the acting. It had a detailed set and several strong actors which helped bring the play to life as well as real rain at the end to create a dramatic effect. Long silences were used in the play to produce tension and it used comedy and tragedy to engage the audience.