Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler is a thwarted soul, smothering in the effete existence of academic aristocracy. She bemoans her marriage to adoring husband George, all loftiness and no intensity. She tolerates George and his Aunt Julia, for the sake of economic security, barely concealing contempt for the concessions she’s endured. Indeed contempt seems to be her stock in trade. She aches for the tempestuous affaire de ceour she left behind when she broke off with Eilert. The bellicose emotions he triggered in Hedda, self-actualized and exhilarated her. Something about the chemistry between them ignited repressed rage, creating a special bond.
When Thea (an erstwhile school friend) shows up on Hedda’s doorstep, she’s surprised to discover that Thea’s left her husband, to pursue a connection to Eilert. It seems both Thea and Hedda are stuck in dissatisfying, loveless marriages. When he tutored her children, Thea and Eilert gradually became closer. Thea has nurtured his better angels, facilitating a successful novel, and his recovery from alcohol addiction. Through all this, Hedda feigns sympathy and encouragement. She’s seething with jealousy, but forgets the choices no one forced her to make.
Hedda, compelled to survive a culture that stifles women with powerful, reckless feelings, will nonetheless sabotage those who have managed to deal. When anger shoves her to extreme measures, we see her prolonged struggle with that decision. In some sense, her pride has been wounded. She can’t bear to see someone she loves so passionately, succeed with another woman. Hedda Gabler feels like a paean to Hedda’s shadow. When inevitable attempts to validate her darkest impulses are thwarted, she finds solace in capitulation. She would rather check–out than subsist in a world that refuses to comply.
It will be a relief, I think, when we can leave virtual theatre in the margins. Local troupes like The Undermain have vigorously risen to the occasion, with their recent production of Hedda Gabler. Blake Hackler’s adaptation is effective and expedient, though there were times when I wondered if it made the melodrama a bit too salient. At the risk of sounding like a bible-thumper, perhaps Hackler’s more contemporary turn on Ibsen’s dialogue (“Way to stick to your guns.”) loses some nuance and lyricism along the way. That being said, Undermain’s Hedda Gabler is captivating and articulate: clarifying complex themes, showcasing phenomenal performances and cunning execution.
Undermain presents Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, adapted and directed by Blake Hackler, streaming May 26th-June 13th, 2021. 3200 Main Street, Dallas, TX 75226. 214-747- 5515. www.undermain.org.