Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Oct 18 – Nov 2, 2024
Playwright: Anthony Skuse (after Henrik Ibsen)
Director: Anthony Skuse
Cast: Jane Angharad, Jack Angwin, Suzann James, Christie Mae, Ella Prince, James Smithers, Christopher Tomkinson
Images by Braiden Toko
Theatre review
Hedda did not have many options in life, being a woman in the 19th century. She went with the most sensible route and chose the best candidate for a successful married life, but found only bitter resentment. Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler exposes what it is often like, for women who obey the rules in patriarchal systems that offer little more than illusory promises.
This short and sharp adaptation by Anthony Skuse goes straight to the point of Hedda’s discontent. Indeed, there is no real need to explain her exasperation, in a world we know that is determined to prevent women from attaining true fulfilment. Skuse’s succinct dialogue delivers a condensed experience of Hedda Gabler, one that retains entirely the moral of the story. There is an inevitable reduction in tension leading up to the dramatic climax, but there is a newfound velocity to this iteration of the 1891 story that proves invigorating.
Set design by James Smithers delivers clean lines for a simplified representation of Hedda’s home. Max Shaw’s costumes help depict with accuracy, the social status and relevant epoch being explored. Travis Kecek’s lights are uncomplicated, but effective in guiding us through shifts in temperament. Live music by Christie Mae on the piano, render scene transitions with fluidity and reflectiveness.
Actor Ella Prince takes on the lead role with blistering intensity if slightly lacking in subtlety, for moments when allusions are more than sufficient in drawing us into Hedda’s troubled mind. Jack Angwin and Christopher Tomkinson bring wonderful richness to their portrayals of auxiliary men in Hedda’s life, both performers offering marvellous intrigue and a palpable sense of danger to the narrative.
No single person in Hedda’s orbit can be held liable for her demise. We understand that it is the grander scheme of things, that drives her to destruction. No one is individually responsible, yet we are all culpable, in upholding systems that fail the majority. Hedda’s material withdrawal from adversity can be considered futile, especially in karmic terms; a person’s body may leave this realm, but their presence is never really dissolved. Whether we believe that one returns in cycles, or we simply look at prevailing structures that are relentless in regulating lives over generations, it is clear that retreating from the struggle is ineffectual. It is in the commitment to finding solutions, that we can hope to approach something like exaltation.
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