By Shelby Richardson
Staff Writer

The characters of “The House of Bernarda Alba” acted like a dysfunctional family on stage during the play’s weekend run.
People screamed at each other, slammed books and household objects around, and even took a swing at each other. The family was always arguing about something, even little things.
But behind the scenes, the actors said they felt like a very close, loving family. The cast smiled and shared laughs during breaks and rehearsals.
“We spent quite a bit of hours rehearsing to build that community,” said Sherry Bube, who played Amelia. “We have inside jokes.”
“We are like a basketball team, except shorter,” said Ashley McDonald, who played Poncia, one of the family’s maids.
The cast said that off-stage, each member was the complete opposite of their characters.
Jennifer Garret and McDonald seemed to enjoy playing a character so different from themselves.
“I enjoy being someone else. I’m not me when I’m on stage,” Garret stated.
McDonald said she enjoyed acting sneaky, eavesdropping and being a complicated character. She said her favorite part was getting to yell a lot.

“The House of Bernarda Alba” is Spanish tragedy  by Frederico Garcia Lorca, who finished writing it in 1936.
The plot features Bernarda Alba, a very strict mother, and her daughters, who long for freedom and want to be married. The only one that is up for that, though, is the eldest. This causes conflict to turn into a catastrophe.
The eldest daughter Angustias, played by Latosha French, is getting married to a worker called Pepe. This causes a conflict between some of the sisters. Angustias, Martirio, and Aldela were in love with him. They treated each other more as competition than sisters.
As the plot goes on, secrets are revealed. The youngest daughter, Martirio, who was played by Kelsie Uselman, has won Pepe’s heart, but he is still engaged to Angustias. Then the middle child Aldela, played by Tiffany Rusin, steals a picture of Pepe from Angustias and hides it away.
The conflict rolls into a hot mess when the mother finally realizes what is happening in her house, as Aldela finds Martirio outside with Pepe. There was a huge fight, with shooting involved. No one was harmed and Pepe got away, but in the end the youngest takes her life because she thinks her love is dead.

Delia Taylor, House of Bernarda Alba, Oct. 18, Play