THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA To Be Performed At Omni Commons

Oakland Theater Project has announced their third production in its 2026 Season. A new
adaptation of Federico García Lorca's "The House of Bernarda," adapted by Chay Yew and directed by OTP Executive Artistic Director Michael Moran.

Following the death of her second husband, Bernarda Alba imposes an eight-year mourning period on her household—and all five of her daughters. Under the matriarch’s  grip, freedom is a hunger: a pulse beneath floorboards, a body straining against lace and grief. Featuring OTP Co-Artistic Director Lisa Ramirez as Bernarda Alba, this new dance-theater production of Federico García Lorca’s drama, adapted by Chay Yew, makes visible what repression tries to crush: desire, rebellion, and the human right to self- determination.

Along with Ramirez, the cast features Off-Broadway performer, director and Tony Award-winning producer Angelina Fiordellisi as Maria Josefa / Chorus. The cast continues with Sarah Jiang as Angustias, Sarah Kasuga as Magdalena, Natalie Pasquinelli
as Amelia, Èssa Vilanueas Martirio, Antonella Scogna as Adela, Jacinta Kaumbulu as Poncia, Shabnam Ayuby as Blanca, Bekka Fink as Prudencia / Chorus, Eiko Yamamoto as Beggar / Chorus, Alula Dreicer as Beggar’s Child / Chorus, Jaden Ramsey as Pepe, and Lynwood P. Boon as Chorus.

“Lorca wrote this play just before the breakout of the Spanish Civil War,” said Director Michael Socrates Moran. “This production sets the story in a contemporary world where female oppression and repression continue in the name of theocracy. As democracy continues its downward spiral across the world, Lorca’s work reveals a future we are heading toward if we do not change course. At the same time, the depth of the work and the form of the tragedy itself also point toward a humanism that can lead us out.”