Image: Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, New Vision Arts Festival 2014
Image Source: http://www.newvisionfestival.gov.hk/
What does a woman really want? To be wooed? To live in luxury? Or simply a game to pass her time?
In 19th-century playwright Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the main character Nora Helmer bravely leaves her family. Here, the Norwegian “father of modern drama” adds to his complex female protagonists with a story revolving around the gracious, clever and ambitious Hedda Gabler. Hedda is a well-off general’s daughter, marries a rising but dull academic. Bored by the end of their honeymoon, the newlywed is made more discontented when she discovers her former writer lover is in another relationship and has managed to complete a masterpiece. Riven by jealousy, Hedda’s troubled mind gradually drives herself and others towards disaster.
Challenging and compelling, Hedda Gabler has been frequently staged in Europe and the US since its premiere in 1891. In this pioneering New Vision Arts Festival-produced performance, Adrian Noble, former Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company, provides a thrilling new interpretation with leading artists from Hong Kong. Together, they traverse personal fulfilment, social convention, and how a seemingly ideal life is transformed into tragedy.