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Coal Mine Theatre/Hedda Gabler, written by Henrik Ibsen, tailored by Liisa Repo-Martell, directed by Moya O’Connell, Coal Mine Theatre, closes June 7. Tickets right here.
Hedda Gabler is a strong play that’s being given a strong manufacturing by Coal Mine Theatre. Whereas I do have some reservations, they by no means compromise the theatre’s formidable and worthy enterprise of a basic.
Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen premiered Hedda Gabler in 1891, and immediately the work is taken into account one of many nice masterpieces of nineteenth century literature. Ibsen imbued his play with robust characters and complex relationships, all touched by intriguing psychological overtones, which makes Hedda Gabler an endlessly fascinating enterprise.
Liisa Repo-Martell did a superior job along with her adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, so I had nice hopes for her Hedda Gabler, and, for probably the most half, she has provide you with a winner. I do want, nevertheless, that the references to Hedda’s background have been extra sharply worded. As within the authentic, Repo-Martell offers the key speech to Aunt Julia, however it’s virtually as a throw-away line. On this adaptation, I doubt the viewers realizes the significance of the overall in understanding Hedda.
The play is named Hedda Gabler, the character’s single title, and never Hedda Tesman, her married one. She is her father’s daughter, the daughter of a basic, which, Ibsen would appear to point, had loads to do with forming her fairly mangled persona. In spite of everything, Normal Gabler’s pistols do play a significant function within the plot.
Because the play opens, Hedda (Diana Bentley) has simply returned from her honeymoon with husband Jorgen Tesman (Qasim Khan) whom she married just for safety and a wealthy society life-style. Jorgen’s candy Aunt Julia (Fiona Reid) is hoping for a child, a thought which Hedda finds detestable. Lascivious Decide Brack (Shawn Doyle) is purportedly a household buddy, however he has designs on Hedda. Berta (Nancy Beatty) is the Tesmans’ servant who’s in awe of Hedda.
Thea Elvsted (Leah Doz) is an old-fashioned mate of Hedda’s and has left her aged husband to be with Eilert Lovborg (Andrew Chown) whom she loves. Sadly for Thea, they’d solely a platonic relationship whereas they labored collectively on his new ebook, which is a literary masterpiece. Lovborg is a competitor with Tesman for a professorship. The previous as soon as ruined his promising profession by turning into a wicked alcoholic, however he has made a restoration beneath Thea’s affect. To additional complicate the combination, Lovborg and Hedda have been as soon as lovers, whereas Tesman had a fling with Thea.
Hedda is the lynchpin of the play and what a wealthy character she presents. Her sense of entitlement, her manipulative nature, her want for energy, her innate selfishness, her coldness in direction of gentleness and kindness, even her perfect of romantic braveness, all stem from having been the spoiled daughter of a powerful, presumably overbearing dad or mum, and Bentley does rise to the problem of presenting these many aspects of Hedda’s persona.
She additionally does a beautiful job with subtext. We really feel her disdain for Aunt Julia, Berta and even her personal husband. We all know she appears to be terribly keen on listening to about Lovborg. We perceive that she is cautious of Decide Brack, who appears to have her quantity. When it’s her flip, nevertheless, to swing into motion to get her personal means with Lovborg, she pours on the energy. Briefly, Bentley goes by an emotional rollercoaster in splendid trend. Her Hedda is her father’s daughter.
Khan performs Tesman as the good man he’s. He’s enamoured of his spouse, hardly believing that he received Hedda Gabler for himself, however he’s not, fortunately, a wimp. He’s clearly clever, having earned a PhD for his analysis. The issue is, he’s too regular for a neurotic persona resembling Hedda. He’s additionally blinded by her attract. All in all, Khan’s efficiency elevates Tesman into a really sympathetic character.
Doyle is scrumptious because the slimy Decide Brack, and the function works even higher as a result of he’s youthful than most actors who play the character as a unclean previous man. Doyle is the soiled younger man who radiates confidence and management. He’s totally detestable in a really seductive means, and his cat and mouse repartee with Hedda is especially masterful.
Doz performs Thea on principally one observe, frantic rising to hysterical, however that’s the means the half is written. Nonetheless, she offers a passionate efficiency that’s crammed with sincerity, and in direction of the tip, does handle to seek out her self-assurance. Doz has a stronger presence on stage than different Theas I’ve seen.
Equally, Chown is a stronger Lovborg than most. In a means, he has a thankless function as a result of the character just isn’t as stuffed out as others within the play, however Chown offers Lovborg definition. He’s positively accountable for himself earlier than shedding out to Hedda’s machinations.
Reid and Beatty are their standard wonderful selves of their secondary roles. Each these actors have been as soon as main girls, and it’s so heartening to see them become character roles, proving that expertise will all the time win out.
Apparently, actor Moya O’Connell has just lately moved into directing and she or he does a greater than credible job with Hedda Gabler. She has saved the advanced relationship construction swirling all through, whereas bringing to the fore robust characterizations. I like the way in which she strikes her actors by the set items in a naturalistic trend.
I do have a few cavils, nevertheless. Generally O’Connell lets her characters change into slightly too shrill (Thea), or slightly to frenzied (Lovborg), or slightly too loud (Brack). As properly, I’m not happy with the ending which I discovered murky and mushy, once I wished heartstopping drama. The play ends with a whimper and never the bang I wished (pardon the pun). I can’t broaden extra on this subject as a result of I don’t need to give something away.
Joshua Quinlin’s set is on the lengthy, which means the slender hall between two sides of the viewers which is neck ache inducing. Nonetheless, his interval set items and costumes work high quality. Composer Emily Haines’ music provides to the interval really feel, whereas Kaitlin Hickey supplies the acceptable lighting.
A robust manufacturing, definitely, however with a couple of blips on the panorama.
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Paula Citron is a Toronto-based freelance arts journalist and broadcaster who hosts her personal web site, paulacitron.ca. For over 25 years, she was senior dance author for The Globe and Mail, affiliate editor of Opera Canada journal, arts reviewer for Classical 96.3 FM, and dance previews contributor to Toronto Life journal. She has been a visitor lecturer for varied cultural teams and universities, significantly on the function of the critic/reviewer, and has been a panellist on COC podcasts. Earlier than assuming a full-time journalism profession, Ms. Citron was a member of the drama division of the Claude Watson College for the Arts.
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