Cover Lea Salonga stars in ‘Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba’, a Filipino adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s masterpiece (Photo: courtesy of Theatre Group Asia)
Lea Salonga stars in ‘Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba’, a Filipino adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s masterpiece (Photo: courtesy of Theatre Group Asia)
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Lea Salonga embraces her darkest role in Philippine theatre yet as the tyrannical matriarch in ‘Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba’
Behind the heavily guarded doors of a grieving household, silence, rigid discipline and the suffocating weight of tradition reign supreme. At the centre of this stifling environment stands a mother who leads not with affection, but with an iron fist, transforming her family’s sanctuary into a prison.
This is the forbidding world that Tony Award-winning actress and Hollywood Walk of Fame star Lea Salonga is poised to enter, stepping away from the radiant heroines of her past to inhabit one of the stage’s most formidable and complex figures.
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Above Poster of ‘Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba’, the February 2027 offering of Theatre Group Asia
Poster of ‘Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba’, the February 2027 offering of Theatre Group Asia
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Theatre Group Asia (TGA) recently confirmed that the internationally acclaimed performer will headline the highly anticipated Philippine staging of Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba. Slated for a February 2027 run at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, the production marks a striking new chapter in her storied career.
Following her sold-out run as The Witch in TGA’s staging of Into the Woods, Salonga returns to play the titular matriarch in Federico García Lorca’s tragic masterpiece. The poetic drama, adapted by Chay Yew and translated into Filipino by Guelan Varela-Luarca, explores themes of matriarchal despotism and repressed desires
Above First edition softcover of Federico Garcia Lorca’s ‘La Casa de Bernarda Alba’ (Image: AbeBooks)
First edition softcover of Federico Garcia Lorca’s ‘La Casa de Bernarda Alba’ (Image: AbeBooks)
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The narrative unfolds after the death of Bernarda’s second husband. As the widow declares eight years of mourning, she forces absolute obedience upon her five daughters, demanding that appearances be strictly maintained. Yet beneath this carefully ordered surface, the daughters’ frustrations, jealousies and dreams refuse to be contained. The arrival of a potential suitor shatters their fragile equilibrium, forcing each woman to confront her own desires and the sacrifices required to achieve them.
For Salonga, whose global recognition stems from her Tony-winning turn in Miss Saigon and historic performances in Les Misérables, this role presents a unique challenge. “To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t encountered this play before, which may work in my favour as I have no preconceived notions or strong opinions,” she admits.
“After reading both Chay’s English translation and then Guelan’s translation into Filipino, despite the literal terror I feel in my soul, this is an absolutely important work to tackle. It fits our culture and is timely given the state of current events in the world,” Salonga says.
The actress reveals that her sense of trepidation originates from two main factors. First, the stark contrast between her own parenting style and Bernarda’s.
“Bernarda is a mother who rules the roost and raises her children not with love but fear,” she notes. “This kind of parenting still exists, whether for cultural or familial reasons, and getting under the skin of such a mother may give me some empathy for her as well as plenty of sympathy for her children. Figuring out what her backstory is will be fascinating, and what her motivations are for ruling her home with an iron fist. Her rule is law for every person living under her roof, and that house is not a happy place. How does anyone reach that point? It’s definitely going to be, dare I say, fun playing detective and piecing all that out.”
Above Lea Salonga as The Witch in Theatre Group Asia’s ‘Into the Woods’ with Joreen Bautista as Rapunzel (Photo: Theatre Group Asia)
Lea Salonga as The Witch in Theatre Group Asia’s ‘Into the Woods’ with Joreen Bautista as Rapunzel (Photo: Theatre Group Asia)
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Second, tackling a full-length play in her native language adds another layer of complexity to her preparation. “To borrow a line from Into the Woods, I’m ‘excited and scared’,” she confesses. “My Tagalog, strangely enough, tends to lean towards the matatas [fluent] side. I once wrote a post on Threads in Filipino from start to finish, trying not to incorporate either English or Spanish. A few folks might’ve been surprised. As for preparations, I’ve enlisted Guelan’s help in navigating the script, and am ready to ask questions about why he chose certain words over others in his translation. His use of the language isn’t just beautiful but adds so many layers of subtext and meaning.”
As the curtain prepares to rise on this domestic tragedy, audiences are guaranteed a performance that strips away the familiar sheen of musical theatre to reveal raw, unvarnished human conflict. With Salonga leading the charge, Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba stands not merely as a theatrical event, but as a mirror reflecting the intricate and often turbulent dynamics of family life, ensuring its echoes will linger long after the final bow.
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Franz writes about the local cultural scene and rediscovering the country’s storied past and rich heritage. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Santo Tomas and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Art Studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Besides working on this luxury lifestyle magazine, Franz is an avid book reader, local traveller, museum-goer, chorister, and community theatre playwright. But above all this, this Aether main spends more time in Teyvat than anywhere else.
