I am reviewing plays for TimeOut now, which is great. Went to see Hedda Gabler at the Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton, last week and still not a patch on the ultimate Gabler - Amanda Donohoe [pictured] - Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, October 2001.
Hedda Gabler, the female Hamlet, conjures up images of lust, manipulation and a terrible descent into despair. Ibsen’s masterpiece may have been published in 1890, but his powerful protagonist will always pull the crowd. Gabler returns from a honeymoon tour with her new husband, the bumbling academic, George Tesman, only to find life as Mrs Tesman is not quite all she hoped for. An old admirer reappears, her husband’s academic rival, Eilert Lovborg, and Gabler’s jealousy is ignited by his spiritual connection with a sweetly innocent Mrs Elvsted and the success of his latest book. Fully consumed, she sets about bringing everyone down.
Each director creates their own Gabler, however Dean Taylor’s vision lacks the subtlety which gives the character its enduring allure. Gabler (Josephine Short) begins so ostensibly tortured that she burns out almost immediately. You want to see her gradually descend into no longer being the mistress of her own thoughts. Instead Short delivers it all up-front and the audience is patronised by a recurring eerie piano soundtrack that plays each time she is moved to destruction. She does however, have the looks and full voice to give the character presence.
By far the strongest performance comes from Lovborg (Greg Cheverall) who beautifully nails the odd appeal of a clever man clinging to sanity’s edge. The lovesick Mrs Elvsted (Sarah Fortune) and the imposing Judge Brack (Daniel Jennings) are also convincing. However ultimately it’s Hedda you come to see and this delivery just doesn’t pack the punch it ought.
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