ED2011 4/5 Reviews ED2011 Theatre Reviews

Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (Palindrome Theatre)

By | Published on Tuesday 23 August 2011

The consummate actors performing this clever adaptation of Ibsen’s play grasp their material by the scruff of its neck, look it straight in the eye and feel its dark heart beating. The action is confined to the well-appointed respectability of a drawing room, yet the room is a melancholy world, and the play a raw landscape of human emotions where the desire to dominate others reigns. The performers embody their characters’ pasts – disappointments, betrayals, shaken morals, lusts, lost loves – and Robin Thompson’s manipulative Hedda is a fearsome centre; she builds up then cruelly dismantles those around her, turning against herself in the process. In the capable hands of Palindrome Theatre, Ibsen’s extraordinary picture of personal relationships rings cathartic and true.

Hill Street Theatre, 5 – 29 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 2.15pm (3.45pm), £6.00 – £8.00, fpp270.
tw rating 4/5
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