| Well, this is
where it all began. I
was not even a
theatre major at the
time but I think the
events that followed
this set design
caused me to
rethink my chosen
path. At the ACTF
competition, I did
not even know
who
the adjudicator,
Ming Cho Lee, was.
My original thought
about the play was
of the entrapment of
the
daughters, and
how Bernarda’s
house was a cage or
fortress with walled
arms that wrapped
the interior in
protective
confinement. I felt
that
the curvilinear
lines of the walls
gave the appearance
of the
continuation
and snakelike feel of
the enclosure.
The main idea for
Adella’s tower, as I
called it, was based
on the
legend
of Rapunzel. Adella is
locked in the tower
to prevent any
suitors, as was
Rapunzel. This idea
was further
cemented by
Adella’s
remark in
the third act to her
mother about Saint
Barbara, who, as it
happens, was the
original Rapunzel.
Saint Barbara had
been locked in a
tower in a futile
attempt to prevent
her from the
doctrine of
Christianity.
| 
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Adella rests her head on her mother’s
knee in the garden as the story of
Saint Barbara unfolds.
theatre, theater, design, scenic design, set design, Bernarda Alba, regional theatre
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The ladies of the house sit in the sunlit corner to sew and chat.
The
maid servant concludes her story of a suitor with the line,
“Come closer and let me feel you!"
 | Act I is played in the outermost room of the house
on the day of Senior Alba’s death. The public room
holds a shrine in the corner.
Act II takes place further inside
the house where the ladies
have their private talks. | 
| Act III is in the garden atrium
at the innermost part of the house. | 
|
Page design by Aaron Orear - SpookyNet, 1999
| | | | |
