FIRST premiered in 1934, Yerma by Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca has been triumphantly adapted by Patrick O'Reilly and is currently on show at the Lyric. The oppressively religious atmosphere and restrictive domestic life of the women in the play have been transformed to the Irish borderlands.
If you haven't been to a christening where sisters are competing in their Sunday best while vaping and then dissolve into drunken karaoke at the post-ceremony party then you'll find it here.
The set by Tracey Lindsay effectively uses the restricted space of a small yellow car as a centrepiece of the family shenanigans. Every inch is used effectively, from the back seat to the roof.
The play is about the restrictions by which women live their lives, the expected roles that do not emerge for some when they fail to conceive children and the jealously and hurts that can impact on a family as a result. This does not make it a sad play – there is tragedy, but it's also funny, lively and engaging with just enough singing to make you know it's not a musical while enjoyin the actors' melodic voices.
Caoimhe Farren as Yerma (which means 'barren' in Spanish) and Laura Hughes as the mammy deserve special mention for their shifting and twisting and considerable acting range. The play is categorised as a thriller and certainly there are unexpected twists in the tale.
The night I attended it was sold out with a wide age group enjoying the play and giving it a standing ovation at the end. Tinderbox is on a bit of a run at the moment, having just won the prestigious UK Theatre Award for best Play Revival for Rhino.
Been reflecting on the wildly varying reception to #Lorca's most iconic plays: Blood Wedding (1933) was viewed as a masterpiece; the first performance of Yerma (1934) was disrupted by right-wing protestors; and The House of Bernarda Alba (1936) was banned in Spain until 1963. pic.twitter.com/LjM2yAQbJX
— James Lee (@jamesleeauthor) October 19, 2024
Tinderbox Theatre Company's Yerma continues at the Lyric Theatre until November 3, as part of the Belfast International Festival, which runs until November 26, so there's plenty of time to catch something.
If that's not enough excitement for you, the Belfast Film Festival starts this week with a line-up to entertain even the most hard-to-please of viewers. There's archive footage from Ulster Mirror, which used to be a fortnightly programme aired locally, and The Unholylands, the world premier of the comedy film with cameos from Nathan Carter, Tyrone McKenna and James Nesbitt.
The Belfast Film Festival runs between October 31 and November 9.
