Yerma [ˈɟʝeɾma] is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca.

Her desperate desire for motherhood becomes an obsession that eventually drives her to commit a horrific crime.

Five laundresses gossip about a woman who still has no children, who has been looking at another man, and whose husband has brought in his sisters to keep an eye on her.

María visits, but reluctantly since the sight of her baby always makes Yerma weep.

"[1] The scene begins near a hermitage high in the mountains, a place to which many barren women, including Yerma, have made a pilgrimage.

Juan overhears and tells Yerma to give up wanting a child, to be content with what she has.

Even when the old woman tells her that she has a very fertile son that she can go off with, Yerma refuses by replying, "What about my honour?

“Yerma” has many Christian morals such as marrying for the main reason to procreate and not going outside of the marriage to fix any problems.

García Lorca uses the strict rules of the Christian religion to depict Yerma as one not able to act upon natural human drives.

As Robert Lima details in his article "Toward the Dionysiac: Pagan Elements and Rites in Yerma," García Lorca writes of the naturalness of the pagan ways throughout the play, using as vehicles characters such as the old woman, events such as the pilgrimage, and the four Empedoclean or "classical" elements, all providing contrast against Christian morals and their operation and effects.

The four elements (earth, water, fire, and wind) are noted in the play both directly and indirectly.

What Yerma does not realize is that to get Juan to want her, she must yield to him as the Earth would do and let go of her fantasy if she has any hope to have a child.

It is mentioned when Yerma speaks of the wind singing in the trees and when she raises her arms and yawns, which is significant of the deep ritualistic inhalation of the air that made the Earth fertile.

In one instance, Yerma goes to the spot where he last stood and takes a deep breath to inhale natural virility.

She realizes that he has always had the potential to fill her fully, but alas she is too late and out of honor chooses to stay with Juan.

In Celtic Europe fire was used in major rituals in which bonfires and torches were used to promote fertility of the fields, animals, and humans.

Yerma mentions how Juan's face lacks the color of life and how his pale skin has not been touched by the fire of the sun's rays.

The fact that she goes to the hermitage, where woman walk barefoot on the soil, makes reference to her initial association with the earth.

Ian Gibson suggests that Yerma is the work of García Lorca's most directly associated with his assassination in the early days of the Spanish Civil War.

It most openly challenges the institution of Catholicism and the strict sexual morality of contemporary Spanish society.

In 2016, Australian playwright Simon Stone premiered an adaption at the Young Vic, starring Billie Piper.

[4] The play was an enormous success receiving rave reviews, namely for Piper's "earth-quaking" performance.

[5] The play saw an unparalleled number of five-star reviews with Piper being described as "dangerously draining", "searing, stunning and unmissable".

The New York Times said Piper's performance was "an unconditional victory" and "blisteringly powerful" [7] awarding it five stars, whilst Hollywood Reporter found her "simply staggering" adding; "When the actress appears at the curtain call, looking emotionally and physical exhausted, you find yourself relieved that she's OK and concerned that she'll have to do it all over again the next night.

"[8] Time Out likened Piper to an "angry beast" warning that her "astonishing" performance inflicted psychological-like emotions on the audience.

NBC's Katie Englehart said "Piper is so devastating I almost vomited in my seat - that doesn't sound like an endorsement but it is.

"[9] Vogue hailed Piper as "one of the great talents of her generation" and described her performance as "astonishing, raw, feral and terrifying."