Due to illness I had not been to class the previous week so missed out on the opportunity of selecting a play which I knew a lot about and could see myself either performing or directing in. At a request I chose to direct the group that I was in and they had already chosen and selected scenes from 'Hedda Gabler' by Henrik Ibsen.
'Hedda Gabler' was first published in Norway during the year 1890. Most of Ibsen's plays are "beyond all social radicalism, defend feminism, contain free thought, and free love..." (Ibsen's Drama: Right Action and Tragic Joy: 1996: vii) and this is what makes him one of the most notorious playwrights of all time. Throughout the play Hedda must keep her former life with Eilert Lovbourg a secret from her husband as they are rivals in the literary field. As well as this Mrs Elvstead, an acquaintance of Hedda, has also taken an interest into Eilert. When Eilert loses his manuscript for his new book he confesses to Hedda that it is lost and he does not know what to do. Hedda has the manuscript but instead of telling him this she says that the best way to end all of his troubles is to commit suicide. He follows her instruction but in a turn of events he does not have a peaceful suicide in which Hedda wished he had. To make matters worse one of Eilert's friends knows the origin of the pistol and he has gained power over her. Towards the end of the play Hedda takes a pistol and shoots herself in the head, her husband (Tesman), Eilert's friend and Mrs Elvstead find Hedda's body. The role of Hedda Gabler is considered to be, by critics, one of the most dramatic characters in theatre. In many productions Hedda can be seen as a heroic feminist or a manipulative, evil villain.
Reading through the script with the group I can see why Hedda can be resembled to both character traits as she wants to find out information with regards to Mrs Elvstead and Eilert Lovbourg without her own secret becoming clear. As well as this she is a strong woman and the audience can see this in the title alone. Hedda is a married woman but has not changed her name, Ibsen did this and said: "My intention in giving it this name was to indicate that Hedda as a personality is to be regarded rather as her father's daughter than her husband's wife." (Fiend or Heroine?: 2006) With this in mind I wanted Ellie to play Hedda as she is a much stronger character and I can see her being able to relate to situations quickly to a time when she has had to think like Hedda. The other character in the scene is Mrs Elvstead who unlike Hedda has always been controlled by men, but in Ibsen's plays this is not allowed, so she has recently left her husband to find Lovbourg. Chess will be playing Mrs Elvstead a nervous and shy character but has come out fighting after leaving her husband.
As Ibsen's plays are full of stage directions I believe that the movement shall come quite naturally whereas thinking about the context of the play will be quite complex. As a director I must fully understand the context of the play and the time in which it was written in. During this period it was predominantly male playwrights voicing the opinion of strong minded women therefore it highlights "the intrinsic connection between Naturalism and the movement for female emancipation." (A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre: 2000: 19) Playing on Ibsen's strong feminist views I want the women of my piece to play their roles with this in mind so this is what we shall be working on in rehearsals.
Innes, C (2000). A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. Oxon: Routledge. 19.
Theoharis, C (1996). Ibsen's Drama: Right Action and Tragic Joy. Hampshire: Macmillan Press.
Sanders, T. (2006). Fiend or Heroine?. Available: http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/trsanders/units/modern_drama/hedda_gabler.html. Last accessed 1st Feb 2013.
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