Bán at Abbey Theatre, Peacock Stage throws well-aimed punches at the past
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Liadán Dunlea and Yvonne Gidden in Bán. Photo: Rich Davenport
Carys D Coburn’s new play is a loose adaptation of The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca. Like its source, the play opens with a family in mourning for its patriarch. There is a controlling mother and five bickering daughters. Coburn transposes the action from 1930s Spain to 1980s Ireland, and a world of rural Irish respectability.
Matriarch Bernadette has a half-sister Frances who is black, the product of her father’s affair. Frances lives in the family home as a housekeeper.