When Jane Hosek first read the script for Yerma at work, she said she was in tears by the end of it. At that point, she said she knew she wanted to be a part of the production.
Weaving in a haunting, surreal image of a remote Spanish village, Sock ‘n’ Buskin’s performance of Yerma was a passionate and melancholy experience. Written by Federico García Lorca and translated from Spanish, Yerma is the tragic story of a young woman who desperately wants a child.
Hosek, 28, has been acting since she was 13, although her day job is as a translator for the federal government. She played the lead role of Yerma in Sock ‘n’ Buskin’s production by the same name, which ran Jan. 26-29.
Playing the tempestuous Yerma is a nice contrast to working in a cubicle, she said.
“She’s a bit intense,” Hosek said. “She’s like an animal in a cage; she doesn’t see a way out.”
Yerma has been married for two years at the start of the play. She’s still childless, to the indifference of her husband Juan, played with stern chilliness by Will Lafrance.
“Having children is all that’s available to her,” Hosek said of her character. “In turn-of-the-century Spain, if you weren’t a mother, you were nothing.”
Eventually, Yerma’s desire to bear children drives her to desperate lengths, while Juan becomes increasingly controlling and mistrustful.
When asked who causes the problems in the marriage, Hosek laughed. “It’s totally Juan,” she said. “I’m trying to get him into bed and he just wants to go to work and hang out with his sheep.”
Though the first act has a decided aura of discomfort as Yerma optimistically hopes for a baby, Hosek delivered a compelling sense of bitterness to the story by the second act, becoming resentful and unhinged. She said her favourite scene is a yelling match between Yerma and Juan.
Hosek said it was a challenge as an actor is to “connect” with Yerma emotionally. Yerma, she said, is shaped by her circumstances, but is still an interesting character to inhabit because of her “all-consuming” passion. She adds that she wouldn’t have made the same choices as Yerma.
“I probably would have run off with Victor ages ago,” she joked.
Victor, portrayed by Mark MacDonald, has evident feelings for Yerma, which she clearly returns, but is too moral to act on them.
It’s testament to the skill of both these actors that they were able to show their mutual attraction without any romantic dialogue, speaking only in casual conversation and affectionate glances. MacDonald’s portrayal is exuberant and joyful, which contrasts beautifully with Yerma’s dark sadness and Juan’s remoteness.
The dreamlike atmosphere of the story is highlighted by the heavily symbolic set, featuring a large, barren tree and a river, where the village women gather to launder clothes and gossip — mostly about Yerma.
Bill Guerrero accompanies dancing scenes and brief songs on the guitar, as he sits next to the tree for the duration of the play.
With eerie, lingering sadness, Hosek’s powerful portrayal of the lonely Yerma brought the story to life, all the way to its twisting, tragic end.
