Hedda Gabler – Richmond Theatre

Writer: Henrik Ibsen

Translator: Michael Meyer

Director: Adrian Noble

Reviewer: Ann Bawtree

The Public Reviews Rating:

First performed in 1890 at the height of Henrik Ibsen’s maturity this production has recently left Bath to go on tour and must surely be heading for the West End. It famously dramatises a situation which is common enough. How often have we seen marriages both on the public front and amongst our own acquaintance which make us say “Whatever does he/she see in her/him?” Sometimes it works well enough and occasionally extremely badly, as can be foreseen in this case from curtain up.

This ultra strong cast directed by Adrian Noble give us the loveable, well meaning but insensitive husband of Robert Glenister as a foil to Rosamund Pike’s Hedda. He, firmly fixed in the mores of 1890s provincial Norway along with all the other characters, and she, a creature of the future with her free spirit and beautiful art nouveau dresses.

It is easy to see how she feels trapped by the doting aunt (Anna Carteret) the obsequious housekeeper (Janet Whiteside) and the challenge of her once despised school friend (Zoe Waites). Add to these the stimulus of a dissolute ex-lover, played by Colin Tierney and a one time playmate (Tim McInnerny) who turns out to be a snake in the grass and the scene is set for disaster.

This is a long play but never flags. Dramatic moments punctuate the sadness of the situation. The furniture is Victorian but with a simpler Scandinavian feel. Clear light floods in from the garden and is suppressed by heavy curtains, occasionally casting shadows over the characters making it difficult to see their faces.

Mark Henderson’s lighting design silhouettes Hedda playing the piano in her private room but also shines an uncomfortable spotlight out from the back of the stage in the final scene. Sound designer Gregory Clarke’s tour de force is the horrendous roaring of the stove which could have been the climax of the story.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy is that after Hedda’s departure one is left feeling that actually the other characters are going to get on quite nicely without this beautiful butterfly which has flitted through their lives.