Writer: Henrik Ibsen

Translator: Michael Meyer

Director: Adrian Noble

Reviewer: Elizabeth Vile

The Public Reviews Rating:

“Life for Hedda is a farce, which it isn’t worth seeing through to the end” – a note by Ibsen

The above note made by Ibsen while he was writing Hedda Gabler seems to me to encapsulate the feeling of the character of Hedda Gabler in the Theatre Royal Bath Production of the same name.

The director has taken a very traditional approach to the play, with beautiful period costumes and some lovely pieces of furniture. The addition of a genuine piano was a lovely touch and the live music, played by Rosamund Pike as Hedda Gabler, really brought the piece to life for the audience. The live music also enhanced the changing atmosphere of Act Two. As Hedda’s state of mind began to deteriorate the music she played became discordant and erratic. I thought this approach worked well and fitted in nicely with Michael Meyer’s translation and the performance of the characters’ on stage.

The contrast between Rosamund Pike’s lazy, spoilt and sexual interpretation of Hedda Gabler against the other characters, who were constantly agitated and excited around her, kept the story moving. Although it is a very wordy play the audience’s attention was always held. The relationships between the characters were strong, the audience were easily able to believe that Hedda’s beauty and force of character could convince Loevborg to do whatever she asked of him.

Loevborg was played as a sympathetic but ultimately weak man by Colin Tierney. Robert Glenister as Tesman and Tim McInnerny as Judge Brack completed the male contingent of the cast. Tesman’s enthusiastic, child-like adoration of his new wife contrasted perfectly with Brack’s mature, much more sexually charged desire of Hedda. Every cast member was strong, with not a weak link among them.

There were very few weak moments in the production and two that were most apparent to me were both staging choices. The first was the layout of the set. At first look it seemed to be one room but during the course of the play it became apparent that it was actually two possible three rooms. Although this didn’t detract from the performance it did make it hard for me to follow the story at some points. The second was the move away from realism during Act 2 when Hedda was burning the manuscript. Although the effect created by the sound and lighting did heighten the tension and horror of what she was doing I didn’t feel that it fitted in with the character of the rest of the piece.

I thoroughly enjoyed the production; it is a thought provoking piece with lovely period detail and strong cast of actors.

Runs until Sat 13th March

Tags: Brighton Theatre Royal, Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen, Robert Glenister, Rosamond Pike, Theatre Royal Bath Productions, Tim McInnerny