Hedda

‘Hedda’ was written in a ‘realism’ genre by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1890. When it opened in Germany, due to the strange new style it received very poor reviews. This script is an adaptation from her native Norwegian, by actress Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik, who achieved a Bachelor of Arts from the Nordic Institute for Scene and Studio. Her partner in this adaptation is WAAPA trained, award winning Perth actor / director Renato Fabretti. Their treatment has omitted one or two characters and expanded the parts of others, resulting in a much stronger understanding of the personalities.

The 100-minute performances (no interval) are in the Studio Theatre at The Blue Room Theatre, 53 James Street, Northbridge. Performances are at 8.30 nightly until Saturday 31^st August.

Vintage Axminster carpets line a strip down the centre of the theatre. The seating on each side of the stage is parallel and facing each other. The audience are separated from the performance area by a horizontal scaffolding pole which acts as the dado rail of the Tesman’s sitting room.

        It is 2013, and the Tesmans have just returned from their 6-month honeymoon in northern Italy. Whilst on their honeymoon, Tesman - as Hedda (Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik) prefers to call her husband – has combined minimal romance with research for his new book.

        Hedda’s new husband is a writer and lecturer, the euphoric Jørgen Tesman (Richie Flanagan). Tesman is buying a house for his new bride and despite being constantly stretched for cash, has numerous demands made on him by the hard-hearted Hedda. Jørgen obtained the money, with a little extra being thrown in by family friend, Judge Brack (Phil Miolin). Does the judge possibly have other reasons for chipping in?

        As the play progresses, the self-centred Hedda is seen to be totally indiscriminate and unfathomable. Her desires and demands have little logic, and yet she always seems to get what she wants. Even her marriage was not created through love, but simply because of her own ennui. Her ingratiating attitude is less than subtle and appears to be still controlled by her dead father, General Gabler.

       The very nervous Thea Elvsted (Tone Skaardal), an old school adversary who Hedda used to beat up and cruelly tease daily, arrives at the house. Thea is now the wife of a wealthy magistrate. With a sweet smile on her face, Hedda has no qualms in wrecking any remaining self-confidence that Thea has.

      It isn’t long before Jørgen’s academic nemesis, and Hedda’s ex-lover, Ejlert Løvborg (Renato Fabretti) arrives at their door. Thea has just helped Løvborg recover from his chronic alcoholism, and has encouraged him to write the textbook unfortunately very similar to Jørgen’s work, this they call their ‘new baby’. The new book is a huge success and Tesman is now faced with major competition for the post of Professor, which until now was guaranteed to be his. This problem is compounded by the fact that Hedda and himself have been spending in advance on the expectation of getting the post.

       Seeing that her husband, security and wealth are at risk, Hedda moves in to clear the ground.

It is often commented that there are few decent parts for women in the theatre, and it is easy to see why Hedda is considered to be one of the best. Marthe has given the part of Hedda an amazing depth. She has captured the smiling assassin perfectly. The enigmatic smile, the coldness when her husband approaches, all from this purring sex-bomb that has fantasy dreams. With the odd, incomprehensible Norwegian sentence, the confusion of the circumstances was emphasised – a wonderful performance. On the other hand Tone Skaardal wins the audience’s sympathies with her nervous, trembling face, confused by Hedda’s friendship and yet still showing that she has a fair idea of what terrible situation is just around the corner. A complex, rich tender performance – superb.

Flanagan showed us the overjoyed husband, the elation and the total joy he has with his new wife. You really felt like shaking him and telling him just to stop and look at what was happening. Miolin, as Brack, was much more lecherous and ruthless than I have seen this character before. His cunning, warped mind was beautifully portrayed.

Often Løvborg is depicted as a weak drunk, here, with Fabretti’s performance; we have a far more realistic picture of a man who has struggled hard to bring himself back from alcoholism to a decent life. Under Fabretti’s direction, all of the characters had far more depth than I have ever seen before, with the whole play more shocking as a result.

An interesting interpretation exquisitely performed.