For the CCW
Haines – Control, tragedy, oppression and class prejudice are just a few of the thought-provoking themes audience members can expect to encounter in Lynn Canal Community Players’ rendition of “The House of Bernarda Alba,” a 1936 play by Spanish dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca.
Directed by Haines resident Tod Sebens, “The House of Bernarda Alba” opens on the Chilkat Center stage at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12. Additional showings are at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, and 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14.
Lorca’s play – the final work he penned before his murder in 1936 – features 19 female characters living in 1930s rural Spain. Its titular character is 60-year-old matriarch Bernarda Alba, a domineering widow fixated on preserving her family’s reputation and controlling the lives of her five daughters.
Judith McDermaid, veteran of the Chilkat Center stage, portrays Bernarda, who has just imposed a traditional eight-year mourning period on her household following the death of her second husband. Severe and stoic, McDermaid said Bernarda’s austerity is her way of preparing her daughters for society’s expectations of women.
“As strict and mean as I appear, it’s because I love them and I want the best for them,” McDermaid said.
Cheryl Mullins plays Bernarda’s eldest daughter, Angustias. Angustias, 39, was the product of Bernarda’s first marriage, and she has just inherited a hefty sum following her father’s death.
That inheritance is the source of envy for her four half-sisters, as is the fact that she is betrothed to Pepe el Romano, who never appears on stage.
The humorous parts of the play belong to Carol Tuynman, who plays Bernarda’s semidemented mother Maria Josepha, and Lorrie Dudzik, cast as Poncia, Bernarda’s chief maid.
Poncia, 60, has worked as Bernarda’s servant for 30 years. Though she desires to be treated as Bernarda’s friend and confidante, Poncia is constantly reminded of her place in the rigid caste system.
“I aspire to be her friend, but as far as she’s concerned, I’m a servant, nothing else,” Dudzik said.
Like all of the characters in the play, Poncia is multifaceted. She likes to tell stories and make the girls laugh, but she also is a harbinger of disaster, warning Bernarda about the consequences of the suffocating environment she is perpetuating. Dudzik said she will consider the play a success if audience members leave the theater not thinking, ‘Wow, what a bunch of mean, spiteful shrews,’ but instead see through to the deeper sense of desperation, sadness and isolation the women feel.
Director Sebens said “The House of Bernarda Alba” drew him in for several reasons, including Lorca’s poetic style and use of symbolism. The work’s heavy themes – oppression of women, class prejudice, tradition, beauty – also attracted him to the play. “This is not just some make-believe thing,” he said. “This is based on fact and how women were expected to behave and how they were treated in Spain in the mid-1930s. They were expected to mourn for eight years when the father of the household died, not go out, not do anything. Just stay home and embroider.”
Lynn Canal Community Players (LCCP) is the oldest continuously operating community theatre group in Alaska. It was organized in 1956 by a group of culturally minded Haines residents who decided it would be fun to put on plays for the entertainment and enrichment of the community.
LCCP has continued to foster the arts in the Upper Lynn Canal in many ways: Sponsoring and operating the Concert Series during the 60s and 70s, organizing and hosting the biennial Alaska State Community Theatre Festival (ACTFEST) for 20 years, producing a long running summer melodrama to enhance the tourist season in Haines, operating a Summer Youth Theatre Conservatory, providing drama workshops and scholarships to drama camps, in addition to producing a season of plays each year.
The Alaska Arts Confluence started collaborating with LCCP this season on River Talk, a dynamic, community-powered storytelling series that draws lively crowds to share in the stories of Chilkat River Valley residents.
Alaska Arts Confluence is a 501(c)3 tax exempt nonprofit dedicated to promoting participation in the arts by providing art education and cultural enrichment opportunities for artists, residents and visitors of the Chilkat Valley. Projects include Art on Main Street, which showcases the work of local artists and artisans in professionally designed storefront window displays downtown, and the Historic Fort William H. Seward Sculpture Garden and Interpretive Wayside Project, revitalizing Historic Fort Seward with commissioned art works by local artists, locally designed interpretive signs and an interpretive walking tour. Art on Main Street and the Fort Seward project are funded by a grant from the ArtPlace Foundation. Alaska Arts Confluence programs and projects provide arts education opportunities open to the general public to foster an appreciation of all arts, with the goals of community enrichment, visitor involvement, and cultural exchange.
For more information, contact Carol Tuynman at 303-0222.
