Penelope Wilton to Star in Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba at National Theatre

By James Inverne
02 Nov 2004

Penelope Wilton will star in the previously announced National Theatre production of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba.

The show is due to play in 2005 and will be part of the Travelex £10 season (for which some seats, bookable in advance, are available for that discounted price). The play will be seen in a new version by David Hare. Hare is almost the National’s unofficial house dramatist at the moment, having contributed both his testimony-led indictment of the British railway system, The Permanent Way, and his view of the build-up to the Iraq War, Stuff Happens, both major 2004 box-office successes.

Wilton is generally regarded as one of Britain’s most distinguished actresses, having built an impressive resume of stage and screen work. Her on-camera successes include the 1987 movie “Cry Freedom,” Alan Bennett’s “Talking Heads” TV monologues and the 2003 film “Calendar Girls.” Her theatrical turns include lead roles at the Donmar Warehouse, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National. She won a Critics Circle Award in 1993 for her performance in The Deep Blue Sea at the Almeida.

Set in Spain in the early 1930’s, The House of Bernarda Alba tells of five daughters whose lives revolve around their mother Bernarda Alba and their off-the-wall grandmother. After their father has died, Bernarda demands that they mourn the loss for eight years — until tensions build to a boiling point.