Displaying items by tag: Christopher Shinn
A stylish and concise Hedda Gabler at Remy Bumppo
An Ibsen play on a cold winter’s evening just feels right. Marti Lyons delivers a stylish (and concise) production of “Hedda Gabler” at Remy Bumppo. With an impressive cast of Remy Bumppo ensemble and new faces, this 100-minute version gets right to the point.
Among the countless translations and adaptations of “Hedda Gabler” that have been written, Christopher Shinn’s version makes a bold, modern statement. Taken from a literal adaptation by Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey, this telling dispenses with Ibsen’s ambiguity almost entirely. Classic melodramas tend to run long and in this day and age, audiences easily grow frustrated with overly long plays laden with innuendo. Shinn’s version is structured in a way that modern audiences will take more from. While the Shinn script may not have been a success on Broadway in 2009 (even with Mary Louise Parker), Marti Lyons’ revival strikes the right balance with it.
Ensemble member Annabel Armour as Aunt Tesman has the first lines and immediately sets the tone of the new Tesman home, a vibe that’s somewhere between charming and unsettling. Armour captures something both aspirational and pitiful about the character in her reliably masterful way. In this telling, Hedda, who is played by Aurora Real de Asua, is feral, almost manic. Her short temper is always shown through smiling teeth and far-off looks. Hedda here is more certain of feeling trapped in a bad marriage. It’s less of a revelation and more of a palpable sense of dread. The only female character that seems to threaten Hedda is Thea Elvsted played by Gloria Imseih Petrelli, whose raw vulnerability is a counter to Hedda’s rampant cruelty.
Greg Matthew Anderson plays the blackmailing judge Brack with such dastardly charm, it’s almost hard to see what Hedda objects to. In the same way Thea is the counter of Hedda, Ejlert Lovborg (Felipe Carrasco) is the helplessly vulnerable of the two men. Carrasco’s performance is also that of a condemned man. In other scripts, this acceptance comes at a more laborious price. Here his conflict with conventional society feels urgent from the start.
Remy Bumppo brings a lot of humor to “Hedda Gabler”. Hedda’s one-liners have always been amusing, in the same mean-spiritedness of an Albee play. Linda Gillum brings a lot of physical comedy as Berte, the Tesman’s quirky maid. Shinn’s script has a sharp sense of wit, even if the somewhat frank sexual metaphors seem closer to 2026 than 1891.
Along with a more forwardly grown-up script, Kotryna Hilko and Joe Schermoly’s costumes and sets are bathed in a moody purple and when paired with Christopher Kriz' electrifying incidental music brings on the feeling of an impending storm.
“Hedda Gabler” is a divisive play. You can either see her as a victim or a spoiled villain. Shinn makes that decision for you, in at-times clunky divulgences. This particular version might not find you quibbling over the character’s true wants or intentions. Instead, Shinn is cutting away the excess so audiences can focus on the powerful statement Ibsen was making before most women knew true autonomy.
Through March 8 at Remy Bumppo at Theatre Wit. 1229 W Belmont Ave. 773-975-8150
This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.
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