The Prison Church of Bernarda Alba

Currently, I am in rehearsal for Frederico Garcia Lorca's THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA, a play completed not long before its author was executed by Fascists at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.  It is a piece much revered in Spanish art and literature but not performed often by professional companies stateside. This production is a collaboration with a local arts college and, as such, many of the students have brought images to rehearsal to create a "Vision Board" which, in the end, represents their idea of Bernarda's house and their characters' lives in it.  This week, the professional cast has been invited to bring images as well. With the aid of Photoshop, I have compiled this image representing my vision of life in Bernarda's home.

Bernarda, twice a widow, controls her very Catholic home with the hand of a prison warden. In fact, in the wake of her second husband's death, her five daughters are meant to live the next eight years of their lives shut up in Bernarda's house mourning "as if the doors and windows have been sealed;" they will not be permitted to leave and "not a breath of air will get in this house from the street."

And so here I have superimposed a Catholic Church atop an American prison. It is not surprising to find a similarity in the architecture, as prisons have their roots in penitence -- hence "penitentiary." The crucifix adds a reminder of both the religious base in tradition and the painful sacrifice the daughters are asked to make.

*Christ on the Cross, by Francisco de Zurbarán 1627 atop an uncredited image of St. Dominic's Catholic Church in San Francisco and an unnamed prison.  Images found via Google Search.  Credit given when known.