Arno Declair photo
Review by Tony MartinsThere's so much to like about the exclusive Canadian engagement of
Hedda Gabler produced by Berlin's Schaubühne company and playing at the National Arts Centre until Saturday: the performance in German with English and French surtitles; the humorous updating of the story by renowned director Thomas Ostermeier; the masterful rotating set that architecturally defines the drama; even the live musical score that merrily skips atop the dark underbelly of the classic play by Norway's Henrik Isben.
In the end, what stands out is how this beautiful and funny production asks us to share in a sobering laugh at the desperation through which some of us live and die.
First staged in Germany in 1891,
Hedda Gabler is an elemental examination of human relations which, like Shakespeare, could be adapted to almost any time and place. Seeking social success, the charismatic title character has married Jørgen, a weak man whom she doesn't love—but everything changes when Jørgen's scholarly career faulters and the money runs out. Isolated in her starkly beautiful new home, Hedda's only recourse is manipulation, a game that darkens when her former flame Ejlert resurfaces as Jørgen's chief rival.
The sosphisticated set, a marvel of engineering and design, enables multiple views of the proceedings, punctuated with short bursts of film projection and spooky lighting effects. The central T-shaped structure—one wall of glass, one of concrete—gives director Ostermeier ample opportunity to play with the transparency and concealment at the heart of the drama.
Portrayed wonderfully by Katharina Schüttler, Hedda becomes a beautiful, caged bird, gazing through the glass and pressing against the concrete, so bored and bitter that for entertainment she shoots at vases (and people) with a set of heirloom pistols.
Though Hedda does despicable acts that decimate the lives around her, we somehow root for her freedom and mourn her suicide. Perhaps this is because her weakness is very recognizable: she allows the limitations of her relationships to define and ultimately destroy her.
The prevalence of humour in Ostermeier's interpretation is somewhat surprising but certainly effective in bringing a pop culture feel to the production. At times the action is like a soap opera; at other times like a sit-com. Yet there is more than enough raw emotion, grimness, and violence to avoid the prospect of farce.
The depiction of Hedda's death at the close offers a final paradoxical tableaux from Ostermeier: the stage spins to reveal Hedda's bloodied corpse while the other characters carry on and suppress the event as would dazed children. The final images, like Hedda's life, are at once absurd, comic and tragic.
Ostermeier's
Hedda Gabler came to the NAC when artistic director of NAC French Theatre Wajdi Mouawad saw the production and was captivated. Mouawad intends to bring in one non-French language production each season. We anglophones can only hope that they are all this good.
