My first thought on entering Trinity Theatre on one of the hottest June days on record was ‘Thank goodness – it’s cool!’. Cooler than outside at least, and for the audience, in our light summer clothing, very comfortable – less so, I would imagine, for the cast of Ibsen’s play, set, as it was written, in late Victorian times. Kudos then to the actors for coping with heavy jackets, skirts and coats.
Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler is a classic play, one of the first to use psychology to explore the demands of society to conform. While these demands in the nineteenth century are well known regarding women (indeed, the play’s title deliberately uses her maiden name, reminding us that this was her ‘true’ persona before marriage robbed her of her name), men also faced limitations according to their place in society, financial situation and career status, and all these elements are brought into play in Hedda’s story.
Rebecca Lennon, having played Nora in Trinity Theatre’s The Doll’s House, now gives us a convincing portrayal of Hedda Tesman: aristocratic, bored, trapped in a loveless marriage and a suffocating society. She craves control, freedom, and excitement—and if that means manipulating and destroying those around her, so be it. Rebecca’s Hedda draws the audience’s empathy, yet disdain for her manipulation of those around her who in the main are totally unaware of her feelings. Rebacca engages the audience throughout Hedda’s tragic journey.
Jack Brading plays her husband, George Tesman, a scholar on the brink of becoming head of a university department. The play begins by establishing him as the spoilt, loved nephew of the two aunts who brought him up, and Emma Shelley’s portrayal of Miss Tesman is gentle, bringing out her devotion to George – to the point where she is willing to risk her own financial future to help fund George and Hedda’s honeymoon and house purchase. Hedda’s casual cruelty towards her establishes the gulf between the Tesman family and George’s new bride: while George loves Hedda and will do anything for her, he completely fails to understand her.
A surprise visitor arrives in the person of Mrs Elvstead (Sarah Kellett), an old friend of Hedda, who has become emotionally entangled with George’s professional rival. Eilert Lovborg. Sarah’s portrayal of this sweet, sincere woman stands as a great foil for Hedda’s manipulation of her and her situation, while Russall Cooper plays Lovborg with energy, showing us his ambition and later devastation.
Jon Davis is excellent as Judge Brack, the family lawyer who comes closest to understanding Hedda; Jon’s performance evokes a tense mixture of desire, entitlement, and menace. Rounding out the cast is the maid Berte, played by Lexi Skeldon-Downer, who makes the most of this smaller role.
The choice of staging for this play, bringing into the round, is interesting, as the audience is drawn into the life of the Tesmans: it also requires the actors to move round the performance area a lot, which gives a sense of several individuals who never quite connect with each other, underpinning the lack of understanding of many of the characters for the others. Moving the sofa slightly outwards would enable all the audience to clearly see the action taking place between sofa and armchair, but the set itself perfectly evokes a late nineteenth century upper middle class drawing room.
Hedda Gabler has been adapted in various ways over the years, often being edited, brought up to date or re-positioned in place or time; director Amanda Robertson has chosen a traditional approach to the play, which demands concentration but still has something relevant to say about today’s society, when despite the passage of 150 years, society still demands conformity, and there are still those whose unsuitability of character for the ‘role’ required of them leads to psychological turmoil and ultimately tragedy.
