Eliza Doolittle informed us in "My Fair Lady" (1964) that the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. But in the case of "Yerma" (1934), written by Federico Garcia Lorca and performed by Pen, Paint, and Pretzels (3Ps), the Spanish countryside remains dry and barren.
"Yerma," which means "barren" in Spanish, tells the story of a woman who desperately longs to bear a child but cannot. The audience accompanies Yerma (junior Alexa Chryssos) as she searches for the solution to her "barren nature," a journey in which she must face and own up to her husband (sophomore Ryan Willison), elders, friends and even a childhood sweetheart.
"It's a story about thwarted desire, forbidden desire. It's about things that we're meant to have but that other people make us doubt," director Jeewon Kim, a senior, said.
Translated from its original Spanish by British playwright Peter Luke in 1987, the play blends Spanish culture, poetry and music (the characters sing as well) into a haunting tale of a woman who finds solutions to her barrenness but is unable to reconcile them with her honor and pride, culminating in a tragic crime of passion.
Upon reading the play, Chryssos was instantly captivated by Yerma's struggle and how she sticks to her core beliefs despite being abandoned by everyone she loves. Her pitiable, yet sympathetic and strong nature is what drew the junior to the role in the first place.
Kim was initially concerned that the translation would lose the play's original simplicity and meaning. He had read the original in Spanish while studying abroad in Madrid and had found many "literary translations" — even one by Langston Hughes — but felt Luke's version was able to both convey the meaning and simplicity of the text, along with the more subtle nuances of Spanish culture.
"I'm obsessed with the Spanish countryside, and I wanted to use [the culture] as a base for the story but without trying to imitate and mimic Spanish people," Kim said.
While the heavy subject matter could easily be overwhelming to college actors, Kim utilized an atypical approach to casting. During callbacks, he talked to all the women about the themes represented in the play, specifically about feeling shut down when pursuing their desires.
"All the women in the cast believe in the power of sharing and informing their choices for the characters from personal experiences," Kim said.
In addition to Chryssos' stirring portrayal, audiences can expect a strong performance from the other females in the ensemble, who are quite funny as they gossip by the stream, and they also offer a scathing critique of societal constructs. Senior Joanna Hausmann is sensational as a saucy and "experienced" pagan woman. She then returns as the diametrically opposite and severe sister of Juan.
Although the cast is female-driven and explores largely female perceptions of sexuality, Willison assuages any concerns about men as plot devices.
"The character of Juan [Yerma's husband] can easily be seen as an antagonist and reduced to a stereotype, but after the second read, I realized that he is relatable in that he is a very rational character who is unable to communicate with his emotional wife," Willison said.
Kim believes that while "Yerma" centers on a woman's fight to bear children, a foreign topic to most Tufts students, the play ultimately explores searching for one's identity in the face of often difficult social commentary. The narrative presented in "Yerma," Kim said, was analogous to being a freshman on a large campus and reinforced that there can be large disparities between reality and the perceptions of others.
"Yerma," Chryssos said, is a story with a definitive sense of right and wrong.
"It provokes a lot of conversation and opinions and discussion, [which] is what the theater is all about," she said.
Accompanied by authentic Spanish flamenco guitars and set against a minimalist set designed to illustrate the polarity between dry and lush, Lorca's play has not only emotion and drama, but also music and dance.
Despite its talk about being barren, "Yerma" is anything but. The play is incredibly cathartic and moving, and the actors make the characters as realistic as possible. Ultimately, "Yerma" resembles real, and perhaps even college, life — some laughs, some drinking and lots of unfulfilled desires.
"People think of theater as something they can watch passively," Willison said, "While that may be the case with ‘Yerma,' I hope that it feels like real people. If you have ever wanted something and not gotten it, then you can relate."
"Yerma" is playing tonight through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night. Tickets can be purchased at Balch Arena Theater Box Office for $7 or by phone at (617) 627-3493.
