Act I

The action opens in a "very white room in Bernarda Alba's house." Bells toll for the funeral of Bernarda's second husband. The housekeeper La Poncia speaks with a maid about Bernarda and her family. La Poncia reports that one of the daughters, Magdalena, fainted during the funeral service. Magdalena is the only one who loved her father, La Poncia explains. Maria Josefa, Bernarda's mother, calls from within, where apparently she has been locked up against her will. La Poncia laments Bernarda's treatment of the servants, cursing her with the "pain of the piercing nail." After La Poncia exits, a beggar woman and a little girl appear, but the maid drives them away. The servant hears the bells tolling and curses Bernarda's dead husband: "You'll never again lift my skirts behind the corral door!" The mourning women begin entering until the room is full. The servants now...