REVIEW: Hedda Gabler

October 28, 2024

 

Hedda Gabler
Presented by Secret House and KXT on Broadway
Reviewed by Danny Yazdani

With countless adaptations and reworkings since its debut, Hedda Gabler sits on the same bookshelf as classics lauded for decades now. One of Henrik Ibsen’s masterpieces, Secret House resurrects the original text with Anthony Skuse’s version, staged at KXT on Broadway. Trimming the excess of the original text while emphasising Ibsen’s timeless themes, Hedda Gabler proves itself to be as relevant as ever.  

Set in the parlour of newlyweds Hedda (née Gabler, played by Ella Prince) and Jørgen Tesman (James Smithers), the play chronicles the few days after they return from their extended honeymoon. Already bored by the triviality of the marriage, Hedda, anti-heroine to the core, stirs the pot and plants varying seeds of doubt and false hope in the remainder of the play’s ensemble; Ejlert Løvborg (Jack Angwin), Thea Elvsted (Jane Angharad), Judge Brack (Christopher Tomkinson), and Juliane Tesman (Suzann James).  

 

 

In the role of the titular character, Prince is simple remarkable. Every movement on stage, paced and well calculated, from their strained facial expressions to the bitterness that comes with her delivery, consistently building on the character of Hedda Gabler and those actresses who have portrayed her in the past. While the acting of the entire cast was admirable and polished, Prince was the sole torchbearer for justifying why Hedda Gabler needs to continue to be told in this day and age. Their talent shines in such a way that it belongs on mainstream theatres across the country. It is also clear that director-adaptor Anthony Skuse has thoroughly considered casting choices, a task never easy for any director. Alongside Prince, the actors gel with one another and construct the confident feeling that audiences are watching an ensemble piece at work.  

 

 

In keeping it to a strict ninety-five minutes, Skuse’s production, however, also falters. Ibsen’s original character of Berta the Tesman’s loyal housemaid, is completely cut and then reintroduced in hybrid format with the creative role of composer, ‘played’ by Christie May. There isn’t much to say of acting for May, apart from her brief announcements at the beginning of each of the four acts, and the odd instrumental moment on the set’s marvellous grand piano. Through no fault of her own, May’s presence on stage delayed moments where dialogue could have been snappier and the obvious left as exactly that. Even more importantly, Hedda’s character is staged without her pregnancy, unlike Ibsen’s original text. Given how intrinsically societies have seen the role of women with childbearing, Hedda’s pregnancy being removed from this production is an unwise choice; it could have enhanced Prince’s onstage intensity and her character’s resentment for her husband. Disappointingly, this is a missed opportunity.  

Thankfully, set (James Smithers), costume (The Company) and lighting (Travis Kecek), work just as cohesively as the ensemble do, abiding by Naturalism’s conventions of credibility in depicting production elements as closely to real life context as possible. The sparse parlour of an empty family home, absent of light and warmth as it is traditionally understood, collaborates with the text itself to leave room for the themes of manipulation, wealth, and liberation.  

 

 

Alongside Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Ghosts, Hedda Gabler maintains relevancy for the twenty first century audience thanks to creatives such as Secret House and KXT on Broadway. Though there was room for a greater potential to be achieved, Skuse and the team still present an entertaining and enticing night at the theatre.  

 

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Hedda Gabler is playing at KXT on Broadway until 2 November 2024. Tickets can be purchased here.

Production images by Braiden Toko.