Henrik Ibsen

Hedda Gabler


Studio
RO
EN
2h 40' with intermission

Hedda Gabler
Imola Kézdi
 
Jörgen Tesman
Zsolt Bogdán
 
Judge Brack
Gábor Viola
 
Ms Elvsted
Anikó Pethő
 
Ejlert Lövborg
Ervin Szűcs
 
Juliane Tesman
Csilla Varga
 
Berte
Réka Csutak

directed by
Andrei Şerban
 
set and costume design
Carmencita Brojboiu
 
director's collaborator
Daniela Dima
 
dramaturg
Eszter Biró
 
lights
Sándor Maier, Alpár Nagy
 
sound design
Zsolt Kerekes
 
stage manager
Enikő Albert
Assistants: James Rutherford, Alexandru Gherman, Alexandra Felseghi, Emily Gleeson, Anda Saltelechi
Date of the opening: january 23, 2012
Decor made by Altax SRL (Bucharest)

Ibsenian characters cannot accept their mediocrity. Hedda, alone, is aware of the lies and hypocrisy of others, but since she does not know herself, she behaves either with aristocratic arrogance, or as a child lost in a world based on false ideals. Hedda gradually retreats into a narcissistic illusion, thinking that she is above everyone else and becoming more and more isolated, incapable of a true relationship.
 
She is impeded by prejudices, conformism, by the rigid education of her military father. She remains passive and it becomes impossible for her to break away from her past. At the same time, a dangerous flame smolders under the surface of her cynical coldness. Reality hits her in the face. She does not try to adapt like the others, but escapes into a secret world of fantasies and illusions, until the whole edifice collapses. Slowly, the exigency of her sincerity, nobility and moral purity disappears and, unlike Nora, Hedda does not have the courage to escape but, in a tragic way, falls into the net that she herself has created.
 
Hedda pleads innocent and guilty at the same time. Such personality ambiguity merits understanding in the context of humanity as a whole, not as an isolated case, and I don’t think that the idea of protecting women in a masculine society is the one to be noted here; Ibsen did not consider Hedda either a victim, or a monster, as she has been traditionally interpreted (like a feminine Iago, who acts under the impulse of jealousy). Hedda suffers from depression as she discovers that her life is mediocre, false and miserable.
 
In a world of economic crisis where everybody talks only about salvation through money, about the fear of losing his or her social status, where love is lacking and conjugal relations are disastrous, where there are no other interests except material ones, nothing is left to the characters but to try to find meaning for their lives in these pseudo-values. In fact, they are mirrors for mankind today, of unfulfilled human potential. The question of the play is: can we live without ideals?
 
(Andrei Şerban)