Lorca’s 1936 classic hits Rio’s Teatro Cândido Mendes with a rock-infused staging that sharpens its message about female oppression and freedom.
Rock meets Lorca on a Rio stage
The House of Bernarda Alba, the celebrated play by Federico García Lorca, is getting a bold contemporary reimagining in Rio de Janeiro — one driven by the energy of rock n’ roll. Directed by Paulo Marcos de Carvalho, the production runs at Teatro Cândido Mendes, in the Ipanema neighborhood, on April 15 and 29, 2026, at 8 PM.
Lorca wrote the play in 1936, just months before he was killed during the Spanish Civil War. It tells the story of Bernarda Alba, a domineering matriarch who forces her daughters into strict mourning after their father’s death, confining them to a world of repression, surveillance, and suppressed desire.
An aesthetic built for urgency
In this staging, rock references permeate the soundtrack, lighting, makeup, and costumes. The effect is not decorative — it serves the drama, injecting rhythm and tension into the narrative while drawing clear lines between Lorca’s world and the pressures women still face today.
Given everything we have been seeing about women in the media, I felt I needed to provoke a state of conscious urgency. The aesthetic we chose speaks to the text and reinforces this house crossed by dense silences and repressed desires, on the verge of breaking.
Paulo Marcos de Carvalho, director
Audience reactions at opening night
The production left audiences at its opening night clearly moved. João Pedro, an International Relations student who attended the show, described the experience:
I was completely amazed. I really did not expect everything I saw. I went in thinking it would be a classic from head to toe, but I was positively surprised. The lighting, the music, the makeup, and especially the scenic play with the white chairs and fabrics kept me hooked from beginning to end — I didn’t even notice the time passing. I highly recommend it.
João Pedro, International Relations student
Nearly 90 years after it was written, The House of Bernarda Alba remains disturbingly relevant. And in this Rio production, rock n’ roll — with all its inherent rebellion — proves to be a language fully equal to the confrontation Lorca always intended.
Event Info
- Show: The House of Bernarda Alba
- Venue: Teatro Cândido Mendes — Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
- Dates: April 15 and 29, 2026
- Time: 8 PM
- Tickets: https://bileto.sympla.com.br/event/117302
