Simon Stone’s modern adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s play, Yerma, tells the story of an unnamed woman (‘Her’) who finds herself unable to have a child with her husband, John. The action takes place in a glass box which predominantly represents the couple’s new and big, empty London house, as well as other places. The audience therefore watch the action through the glass walls, experiencing the social expectation that couples become parents and the pitying response when they fail to conceive. ‘Her’ writes a blog about her struggles to have a child, in which she details every intimate, confessional detail about her resentment of her pregnant sister and John’s failure to make a baby with her. After 12 failed attempts at IVF, losing her job, and her marriage, she is driven to the very edge of her mental health and, ultimately, falls.
Stone's contemporary portrayal of Yerma presents a powerfully devastating portrayal of a woman in her late thirties, desperate to conceive the child she thought she never wanted.
Yerma guide sections
