photo by Michael Bailey
I’ve directed Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler twice. Once in the mid 1990s and a second production in 2008. The second time I believe I had a better grasp on Ibsen’s intentions. The character of Hedda has taken on an iconoclastic dimension. My conception of her story in the 2008 production was that Hedda has escaped her own play and an ill wind has blown her into a theater space to relive her morbid story. I told my cast that, whether we like it or not, there is a little Hedda in all of us. It’s that part of us that doesn’t want to accept responsibility, that doesn’t want to accept commitments, that is looking for pleasure and doesn’t know how to find it, that is afraid of scandal.
My team of designers was exceptional:
Set Design by Lisi Stoessel
Costume Design by Rachel Schuldenfrei
Lighting Design by Ryan Bauer
Sound Design by Ben Warner
I also had a very talented company of actors to help me fathom the characters’ complexities.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Hedda Gabler ………… Kate Brennan
George Tesman ……… Ryan Stinnett
Thea Elvsted …………. Molly Coyle
Judge Brack ………….. Joel Grothe
Eilert Lovborg ………… Alex Campbell
Miss Juliana Tesman … Judith Reagan
Berta …………………… Caroline Ryon
I will always remember this production as the project where I had the opportunity to work with my wife, Jude, and our son, Ben.
FROM IBSEN’S HEDDA GABLER NOTEBOOKS
…Very few true parents are to be found in the world…Most people grow up neglected and misunderstood or else spoiled…
…Hedda feels herself demonically attracted by the tendencies of the times but she lacks courage. Her thoughts remain theories, ineffective dreams…
…Why should I conform to social morals that I know won’t last more than half a generation. When I run wild, as they call it, it’s my escape from the present. Not that I find any joy in my excesses. I’m up to my neck in the established order!
…Men and women don’t belong in the same century…
…They are not all made to be mothers…
…She really wants to live a man’s life wholly. But then she has misgivings…
…Buried deep within Hedda is a level of poetry. But the environment frightens her. Suppose she were to make herself ridiculous!
…Hedda’s despair is that there are so many chances of happiness in the world, but she cannot discover them…
…Life becomes for Hedda a ridiculous affair that isn’t worth seeing through to the end…
…The greatest misery in this world is that so many have nothing to do but pursue happiness without being able to find it..
Here’s a sample of Lisi Stoessel’s scenic design (early images, “rough” sketches, ground plan and several production photos). Lisi’s design concept and execution beautifully captured the nightmarish atmosphere that we had envisioned for Hedda’s home. What an amazing world Lisi offered us….truly a director’s staging delight.
All photos by Michael Bailey
