As the daughter of a distinguished general, growing up in a privileged environment, Hedda Gabler is accustomed to getting her own way. Used to ruling by manipulation, she enjoys ridiculing those she views as inferior to her and likes being amused at their expense. Feelings of boredom and a vast need for freedom fuel her everyday existence. Her beloved and bizarre collection of pistols gives her the sense of danger she craves to experience.
To become intimately acquainted with this unique and utterly disturbing creature, attend an unforgettable performance of Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” at the Yale Repertory in New Haven until Saturday, December 20.
As a psychological study, Hedda Gabler is an enigma, one that verges on the edge of madness. Marianna Gailus is brilliant as the conflicted female who can’t find her place in society as she experiments with the role that best serves her needs. She is inspired and discontent, excitable and filled with disdain, highly emotional and easily distraught. She burns to make a difference, to direct the destinies of those around her, even if they are destroyed in the process.
Returning from a six month honeymoon with her mild, admiring professor husband Jorgen (Max Gordon Moore), Hedda is dismissive and critical of his loving Aunt Juliane (Felicity Jones Latta) and has no use for her new servant Berte (Mary Lou Rosato) who has served her new husband's family for years.
Her interactions with an old school acquaintance Thea (Stephanie Machado) whom she tormented in their youth and with a former lover Eilert (James Udom) reveal her true evil inclinations, her jealous streak and her inability to recognize happiness. Judge Brack (Austin Durant) is the only one in her world capable of calling Hedda’s bluff and revealing her self-destructive center. James Bundy directs this turn of the twentieth century drama, set in Norway, with a new adaptation by Paul Walsh, in a bold and decisive manner.
For tickets ($ 15-65), call the Yale Rep, 1120 Chapel Street, New Haven at 203-432-1234 or online at www.yalerep@yale.edu. Performances are Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Come view the master puppeteer Hedda Gabler as she realizes her beauty is not a gilt-edged ticket to a forbidden world and, ultimately, she has no power over anyone’s destiny, least of all her own.
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