The Writers of The House of Bernarda Alba: Federico García Lorca and Chay Yew

Federico García Lorca

Lorca grew in Fuente Vaqueros, a small farming town in southern Spain, near Granada. With his family, he grew up surrounded by rural life, which deeply influenced his stories of nature, folk traditions, and lives of normal people.
After years of writing in New York and Buenos Aires, where his plays and poems were published – and can still be found to this day– Lorca began his transition to Madrid, where he was a part of a group of avant-garde artists known as the “Generation of ’27.”
In the heart of the Second Republic of Spain, Lorca saw an opportunity: taking control of a theater company, he began to explore what theater and societal norms he could break, such as challenging the "accepted role" of women in society.
His political viewpoints, how he broadcasted them, and his sexual orientation made him a target of the Francoist Regime, who murdered him in 1936, when he was 38.
He his with friends in Granada, where the Spanish Civil War began, since he knew that he was a target. Although he was offered safe passage out of Spain multiple times, Lorca denied, stating that he was safer there. Lorca was ultimately ratted out by those same friends.

Chay Yew

Chay Yew is a nationally recognized playwright and stage director, who was born in Singapore, 1971.
Yew grew up watching the Chinese street opera, which sparked his love for theater. He studied in the United States, before returning to Singapore for mandatory military service. There, he took up performing and ultimately playwriting, which he describes as "sparking a freedom."
In 1989, Yew's first play, As If He Hears, was banned by the government, because they found that the main character, who was openly gay, acted "too sympathetic and too straight–looking."
Chay Yew's breakthrough came from what ultimately got named "The Whitelands Trilogy," which is composed of Porcelain, A Language of Their Own, and Wonderlands. These plays ultimately explore themes of identity in context of the American Dream, as well as sexual orientation within in.
Recently, Yew was Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater, where he established many programs. Amongst them were: the Directors Inclusion Initiative, to develop emerging Chicago Stage Directors who identified as BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+; the Next Generation Fellowship, a development program for next generation arts leaders and managers of color that offered experience and guidance; and the Resident Theatre Program, which looked to broaden the reach of local, smaller, storefront theaters.

For most of Lorca's life, excluding the period of the Second Republic, he lived and watched his nation suffer under a growing dictatorship and fascist movement. Seeing how this affected his family and friends pushed Lorca, who now wanted to make his ideals present through surrealism, a literary movement uncommon in Spain.

Yew grew up at the height of the People's Action Party power in Singapore. The government, who some activists called authoritarian, also pushed for social conservatism, looking to impose it over the country. In his early career, Yew saw how this affected his identity as a playwright, but how we didn't want to be affected, but rather inspired by it.

Lorca uses lyrical, mythical and symbolic features, and resorts to both popular song and Calderonian culture. His lyrical work often incorporates elements of Spanish folklore, Andalusian flamenco and Romani culture, and Cante Jondo.

Chay Yew uses lyrical, poetic, and emotionally powerful text that often includes narrative techniques from outside the traditional dramatic format. He uses concise dialogue that is emotionally charged and capable of conveying the message across in simpler terms.

Chay Yew and Federico García Lorca: 100 Years That Separate Two Powerful Playwrights

Although Lorca did not intend for The House of Bernarda Alba to be a part of the "Rural Trilogy" he has (the other two being Blood Wedding and Yerma), many critics and followers see it as impactful last installment. All plays talk about female oppression and resemble a naturalistic style, but more importantly, were written during the Second Republic when Lorca was in command of a theater company, in which he wanted to push the norm and place an idea in minds that many people did not agree with.

Although some critics claim that "Whitelands Trilogy" is not complete, due to a difference in messages, Yew has stated that for him, rather than focusing on the intersection of race and sexual orientation, this trilogy is aimed to explore the "dark side" of the Asian American Dream in today's society

Lorquismo revolves around core symbols - such as the blood, the knife or the rose - and how those symbols take place in mythical spaces or are used to present a transcended realism. These symbols, even if barely mentioned, represent substantial problems.

Yew's story use its poetic language to allow the non-traditional structure and often minimalistic design to elevate the stories that represent the struggles of marginalized communities today. He is able to achieve this dance, documentary theater, and multimedia to give insight into the characters' different perspectives.