Hedda Gabler

Since watching Hedda Gabler last night, I have struggled to think about anything else. It was so beautifully done, and I am unable to find a single fault in the performance. I only knew the bare bones of the story of Hedda Gabler before seeing this play – I knew Ibsen was a hugely important playwright, the play is very well loved and I was excited to see how this modern version would affect me.

Brought to you by the team from the National Theatre who were behind the latest adaptation of Jane Eyre (which I also loved), this is a new version by Patrick Marber. A minimalist stage, with just enough props and light to create an evocative apartment scene, and characters dressed in modern but minimalist clothing sets us up right for the night. Claustrophobia fights freedom in a closed in envrionment with no visible exit, and light is carefully motintored to show the time of day. Hedda Gabler, played by understudy Cate Cammack is 100% the focus of the audience and all other characters throughout. Cate did an outstanding job in playing this legendary woman, full of passion, fury and confusion. You cannot help but love her, and hate her, but you know she means an awful lot to you by the end of the play. The supporting characters are rather one dimensional, but they are supposed to be – placed up against Hedda, everyone else seems rather simple and dull, such is the brightness of her fire. The use of Joni Mitchell’s Blue (about the loss of Joni’s child through adoption when she was young, and, in this case, the feeling of being empty and lost inside) was perfectly chosen. The plot flows naturally, and tragically, and movement on stage was clever – they filled the stage well despite there only being a few characters.

To be honest, this review is proving kind of hard to write. I loved this play so much that I am fighting my urge to just write about what a fantastic and fascinating person Hedda is, and what an incredible man Ibsen must have been to write in this way about a woman’s psychology and emotions back in 1890. The themes, the feelings, the situations all appear timeless, as is the case with all great plays which consider the human condition. This modern version demonstrates this to the absolute max. Do what extent does a woman’s marital position affect her role in life? Is it wiser to settle for a boring but safe life, or chase risk, adventure and excitement? Is it better to wait up for your partner til they return home drunk at 7 in the morning, or to pretend that you just woke up and weren’t bothered? If you become pregnant, does that mean you actually want to be a mother? What is the best way to support and love your partner, and recognise that they are their own individual whilst also creating a unit between you? How can you find the right balance between pleasing others and pleasing yourself? These themes are played out so clearly and yet with such subtlety in Hedda Gabler, and were particularly well done last night in Cate’s performance. By turns manipulative, sometimes for her own ends and sometimes for no reason, out of control, intelligent and foolish, sensuous, resentful, dramatic and reserved, she was everything a woman can be and is. She followed her own logic, but also seems to lose control of herself, what she wants and why, all whilst enjoying the power of influence over the men (and women) who all want a piece of her in various ways. Massive big up to Cate for stepping in to Hedda's black stilettos with such aplomb and presence.