Hedda Gabler
By Henrik Ibsen
Adapted by Paul Wagar
Directed by Les Miller
The Ark’s 10th anniversary season continues with an update of a classic in modern drama.
REVIEWS:
From Paul Birchell, LA Weekly:
"In Granata's at times ferociously angry turn, we are treated to Hedda as Mean Girl - a former high school bully and shallow party gal, as much Hedda Locklear or Paris Gabler, whose breathy smiles and glitteringly insincere simpers at her husband turn into venomously terrifying rictuses of rage the moment his back is turned." "Granata's multi-dimensional, harrowingly brittle Hedda..." "Also engaging is Peter Colburn's effortlessly oily turn as increasingly sleazy family friend Judge Brack."
From Philip Brandes, LA Times:
"Granata's Hedda immediately impresses... She's at her deliciously sarcastic best playing cruel cat-and-mouse games with former lover Eilert Lovborg."
From Les Spindle, Backstage:
"(Paul) Wagar's text... feels like a seamless reinvention of this gripping yarn." "Granata's delicious characterization of Hedda as a fashion-plate ice princess prone to bitchy putdowns is riveting." "Hamra is superb as the recovered alcoholic who's a professional rival to Tesman. Peter Colburn excels as dastardly Judge Brack, whose blackmail tactics pose a formidable challenge for Hedda." "Christina Silvoso's smart and finely detailed set and Theodoricus' stylish costumes are impressive."
Building on the momentum of its first two hits of 2009, The Ark Theatre Company at the Hayworth marks the mid-way point of its 10th anniversary season with a gripping new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler.”
A true classic of modern drama, “Hedda Gabler” has long thrilled audiences with its spellbinding account of a woman of cunning and means trapped by the stultifying limits of the society she inhabits.
Hedda, recently married to the bookish and ineffectual academic George Tesman, feels increasingly constrained in a world that seems to have no use for her aspirations and her fierce streak of independence. Visits from her old schoolmate, Thea, and a long-ago love, Eilert, spin her staid existence into a series of schemes and manipulations that herald a possible escape from her life of caged desperation. Is Hedda a shrewd, empowered and intelligent proto-feminist? Or is she merely a calculating, self-absorbed and cruel villain. Ibsen’s provocative play offers the curious possibility that she may be both. Paul Wagar’s new adaptation shifts the setting to the U.S. East Coast during the 1950’s, adding whole new layers to the intrigue.
The cast includes Shanti Bowes, Peter Colburn, Simone Gad, Julie Granata, Darrel Guilbeau, Zack Hamra and JoAnna Jocelyn. Les Miller Directs.