Chay Yew makes PH directorial debut with ‘Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba’

MANILA — Internationally acclaimed director and playwright Chay Yew will make his Philippine directorial debut with Theatre Group Asia’s (TGA) production of “Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba,” his adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s classic drama.

Translated into Filipino by playwright Guelan Varela Luarca, the production will star Lea Salonga as the titular character and will be staged in February 2027 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater.

Yew has directed productions at major U.S. theater institutions including The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Roundabout Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons, Goodman Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and American Conservatory Theater.

His directing credits include “Cambodian Rock Band,” “Mojada,” “Oedipus el Rey,” “Sweatshop Overlord,” “The Light in the Piazza” and “The House of Bernarda Alba.” His work also includes opera, and he has received the OBIE, DramaLogue and Craig Noel awards for direction.

Yew first staged his adaptation of “The House of Bernarda Alba” more than 25 years ago with the National Asian American Theatre Company in New York. He said he was drawn to the poetic qualities of Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” and “Yerma” and incorporated elements of both into his adaptation.

“I combined the two, trying to find its own lyricism within past Lorca plays, including the story that Lorca is telling, and integrated it into this production,” Yew said. “And in this version, I also decided to deepen and find new complexities of all the women in the play.”

Yew said the material also carries particular resonance for Filipino audiences. Several Filipino artists were involved in his original production in New York and recognized familiar cultural dynamics in Lorca’s story.

“When we first did the play, there were a lot of Filipinos involved, and they all kept saying that it was the most Filipino experience,” Yew said. “The more I did it, the more I realized it had to come to the Philippines.”

His collaboration with TGA also has a personal connection. TGA co-founder Bobby Garcia was once a student intern under Yew during the early years of Yew’s career in New York.

For the Philippine production, Yew specifically wanted the play performed in Filipino. That decision reunited him with Luarca, whom he first met when Luarca was a graduate student at Hunter College. The two later collaborated on an adaptation of “The Oresteia.”

“When the opportunity came with Bernarda Alba, I didn’t want to do it in English,” Yew said. “I told Clint (Ramos) I wanted to give this play a Filipino spirit. It’s a play they should hold on very dear to … the only person who I knew who has the capacity of its poetry and politics is Guelan.”

Yew said working with Salonga, who will play Bernarda, presents an interesting challenge because the role is different from many of her previous performances.

“It’ll be a huge challenge for her because I think this role is very antithetical to what she has done,” he said. “Yet, I do recognize the fortitude, the strength, and the dynamic quality that she has as an actor to play the role.”

“I recognize in Lea those qualities. She is a mother. She is a force of nature,” he added. “And the question right now is, how far can we explore Bernarda with a wonderful actor like Lea?”

“Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba” centers on a strict matriarch and her five daughters. Following the death of her second husband, Bernarda imposes eight years of mourning on the family and demands absolute obedience from her daughters.

As tensions build within the household, the daughters’ frustrations, desires and rivalries begin to challenge the order Bernarda has imposed.

The production will run in February 2027 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater.

Tickets will be available exclusively through TicketWorld, with a BPI cardholder pre-sale from October 19 to 21, followed by an exclusive TGA subscriber pre-sale on October 22 from 10 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Public ticket sales begin October 23 at 10 a.m.