Federico Garcia Lorco’s last play, The House of Bernerda Alba, is the story of frustrated desires, played out in the oppressive heat of Andalusia, inside the claustrophobic confines of closed walls and within the boundaries of a suffocating society. The play opens with Bernarda’s husband’s funeral and centres around her efforts to contain her daughters’ brooding desires. The daughters exist in a cloistered house, under the strict vigil of the old maid Poncia, subjected to constant raving of their demented grandmother Maria and, above all, bearing the tyranny of Bernarda, who deliberately deprives her daughters of love and happiness because she believes duty and appearances require it. The girls crave to get out of the confines of the oppressive walls and lead their lives on their own terms. Sitting atop a dormant volcano of emotions that finally explodes when the eldest daughter’s wedding is fixed and she is ready to leave the house. Frustration and anger leads to jealousy, deceit and unleashes unbridled passions. Translated by Salil Bandyopadhyay and directed by Saswati Biswas, this play will be premiered tomorrow evening.