Lea Salonga Takes on Lorca’s Headstrong Matriarch in ‘Sinaunang Tagalog’ Staging

Manila, Philippines--Adapted by celebrated director-playwright Chay Yew and translated into “Sinaunang Tagalog” by Guelan Varela-Luarca, Federico García Lorca’s “Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba” (The House of Bernarda Alba) is Theatre Group Asia’s second offering for its 2026–2027 Season of Power.

Tony Award winner Lea Salonga takes on the titular role, which marks a dramatic shift from the roles that have defined her esteemed theatrical career—from leads such as Kim in “Miss Saigon,” Eponine and Fantine in “Les Misérables,” and The Witch in “Into the Woods,” to her beloved Disney heroines, Princess Jasmine and Fa Mulan.

This production is also Salonga’s first-ever full-length straight play in the vernacular.

Salonga shares in a pocket interview with BroadwayWorld that translation’s Tagalog leans toward a formal, elevated ("matatas") style, making the project both daunting and deeply rewarding. To navigate the script's dense subtext and poetic nuances, she is working closely with Varela-Luarca to unpack his precise word choices and capture the full emotional power of the language.

“Following the death of her second husband, Bernarda seals the doors of her home and decrees a punishing eight-year period of mourning. Under her tyrannical command, absolute obedience, silence, and rigid tradition are forced upon her five daughters, transforming their household into a gilded prison built on the obsession with social respectability,” the show's synopsis says.

Salonga reflects on TGA’s deliberate decision to mount this classic tragedy post-pandemic. Far from reading the work as merely a period piece, she discusses how the play’s thematic weight and all-female characters speak directly to the pressures still hounding women today.

"They could have picked any other play. But they picked this one, and I think that there is a reason. Because of the themes, because all of the characters are women, and current events necessitate a play like this being staged and produced," Salonga explained.

She also observes how the play’s core conflicts around power and female autonomy remain painfully relevant, drawing a direct parallel between the society Lorca depicted and today’s global realities.

“This was written in the 1930s, and doesn't look like humanity has moved forward very much from that point," she noted.

During the interview, she probes deeper into the illusion of progress, pointing out how easy it is to take modern independence for granted while structural oppression persists.

"There are calls for... feminism, isn't it? I'm like, yeah, and you say that while making your own money, while having gone to college and getting a credit card in your own name, you know, which is something that our mothers didn't even have when they were in their 20s...

“But yeah... there are parts of the world where, say, getting an education is so much more frightening. And I think it's by design. So what do women need to do? We have to keep fighting against this system that seems to want to keep us underfoot."

Borrowing a line from The Witch in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” Salonga admits she feels "excited and scared" as she prepares to uncover the terrifying motivations of theater's most infamous matriarch.