Bán is a new play by Irish playwright Carys D. Coburn. It's a reworking of Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba (which I saw once many years ago in Edinburgh at the Lyceum Theatre.
It's very claustrophobic, set in the kitchen of a house. There are mothers and daughters, sisters and cousins who have lost the patriarch of the family (only referred to as Daddy).
Secrets abound and are revealed one by one. But the secrets are mostly known in the family and not talked about. Everyone knows everything and never says.
Two of the characters are mixed race, and their skin colour plays a part in the unravelling of the secrets in the house. Frances and Bernadette are sisters though with a different skin colour. But how does Annie, who is meant to be Bernadette's daughter, have a darker skin tone than the other sisters? Maybe there is Spanish ancestry from the Armada...? But no, it's much simpler and more elemental. Daddy is not a good man.
Death strikes down two of the characters and they reappear as ghosts. And there are some cruel and spiteful interactions among the living. No-one is really who they appear to be. And bullies like to gaslight their victims.
A really worthwhile visit to the theatre, and something that will stay with me for a while.
Five Stars from me.
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