Hedda Gabler

Wow. It's been a while. Anyway, I recently had the fantastic opportunity to see the Broadway revival of Ibsen's classic tale of household suspense. It was among the best of my theatrical experiences.

It tells the story of a cunning woman who tries to control the little world she finds herself trapped in through manipulation and deceit. It is an interesting story with complex characters and plot twists that will keep you guessing up until the end. In its time, it was quite controversial - no one wanted to talk about what happened between people in secret, or question class and societal expectations. While today it is not as shocking in that manner, its effect is still profound.

We begin the Broadway contemporary interpretation with Hedda, played by Mary Louise Parker, rising from her bed and entering the living room. After cooly observing her environment, she flies into a rage, tossing chairs and knocking things about. It seems wild and yet entirely under her control the entire time. And it is from this scene that we receive our first impression of Hedda, which is  most certainly an accurate one. Throughout the story, we see her take every detail into account. We see that all her senses are alive, despite her cold attitude and bored disposition. She is paying attention so that she can take her knowledge and use it to manipulate, to play games with the other characters so that she is controlling the little it is that she can. Mary Louise Parker gives an incredible performance in portraying a woman so desperate for power and entertainment that she creates horrible games and watches her plans unfold.

Another performance that I was very impressed with is that of a favorite actor of mine, Michael Cerveris. He plays Hedda's clueless husband, Jorgen. He is a man who sees the world as he believes it should be, not necessarily as it is. He is devoted to his work as a scholar, and assumes everyone else is interested in the household customs of the middle ages and such. Hedda finds his studies unbearably banal. He is also a very caring man, who loves his aunts (whom Hedda of course hates) more than life itself. And more than anything, he loves Hedda, and believes she loves him in return. Hedda just finds him to be pathetic. His cluelessness provides for some comic moments, but you also feel sorry for him - his devotion and passion to his studies, other people, and Hedda is adorable, yet it also leaves him vulnerable to manipulation by his wife.

Every other character in the show is interesting as well and portrayed perfectly and vividly by the actors. The show is suspenseful, yet in an entirely believable and realistic way that allows you to relate to it. Overall, Hedda Gabler is a brilliant play, written by a brilliant playwright, and I felt that the new contemporary version helped to capture its original controversy. It was an intellectual and captivating evening I will not forget.

The reviews were terrible, however. Here is a list of excerpts from them.