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Bite 08
Katharina Schuttler and Jorg Hartmann Photo by Arno Dedair
A review by Mary Couzens for EXTRA! EXTRA!
This cinematically styled production of Ibsen’s classic antidote to boredom does not feature the type of staging you’d expect to encounter in this much performed play and the results are all the more intriguing for it. Effective, well-placed use of projections, a seamlessly shifting set which allows room for imagining, surprising yet considered use of sound and strangely in tune pop music, along with tautly directed, intelligent performances all round, combine to form a deeply compelling and satisfying evening of theatre. The fact that the play is performed in German with English subtitles, and the setting is a contemporary one with appropriate references and accoutrements utilized, but not over-emphasised, enables Schaubuhne am Lehniner Platz to breathe new life into their unique interpretation of Ibsen’s seminal play. Sensual, sought - after Hedda Gabler has recently married soon to be professor, Jorgen Tensen. Jorgen is handsome, strong and intelligent and he absolutely adores his bride of six months, the only thing is, he has a one track mind and the only thing that really grabs him is his work. ‘Books and research,’ Hedda scoffs, ‘I’m not interested,’ though her husband seems not to hear. His old Auntie, who spoils Jorgen at the slightest provocation, believes her nephew has been far too extravagant and optimistic about his future prospects, buying Hedda a huge house at the start of their life together. Oddly enough, it is Hedda’s unbridled distain for everything and everyone which makes her so fascinating to observe, though, in real life, a woman of her ilk might be seen as something of a killjoy, if not a self-absorbed bore. However, as this reviewer is incapable of perceiving Hedda’s character from the viewpoint of any of the three haplessly adoring males she alternately focuses on, I can only judge her through a lens of feminine rationality. Of course, less beguiling members of Hedda’s ‘fair’ sex have all too often watched in dismay as far too many of their overly trusting male counterparts have succumbed to such predatory practioners of feminine wiles. However, few women, if any, would be capable of flaunting their male conquering wares with Hedda’s venomous abandon, as she viciously toys with each of the three men as though he was merely, a pawn in her game. The young couple’s lawyer, Judge Brack noting Hedda’s already terminal boredom with her husband, thinks he could be just the fellow to make up a fondling third in their potential triangle. However, once Hedda’s former flame Eilbert Lovborg, who’s just completed the philosophical masterwork he’s been writing for two years finally comes to call on the pretence of visiting his younger colleague Jorgen, and Mrs Elvstead, the local woman who’s been his ‘assistant’ during that time arrives too, that the real games begin.
Kay Bartholomaus Schulze, Katharina Schuttler Photo by Arno Dedair
Director Thomas Ostermeier deftly enables his actors to lay their proverbial cards on the table, thus heightening the drama of all of their assorted interludes. As a result, the generally fine line separating each actor’s stage persona from that of his character’s seems to be almost, non-existent. Jan Papplebaum’s stunningly versatile, Bauhaus inspired set, with its angled mirrors, allows the audience insight into parallel goings on in other parts of the spacious house, while the main focus resides with the interacting players in the minimalist, high tech living room. Dream like, psychologically inspired videos created by Sebastien Dupoey add still more pieces to puzzles as they drift over the rotating set, providing insight into what is going elsewhere in the lives of characters who have physically, at least, left our immediate range of vision. Malte Beckenbach’s music lends an undercurrent to texts, both sub and surface, while bouncy pop songs by former Beach Boy Brian Wilson, recorded during his heyday with that pseudo-surfing group seem strangely apt during brief, scene changing intervals, with their sugary sound and surprisingly biting lyrics, indicating that all’s never fair in love, be it false or otherwise. It may be true that Schaubuhne am Lehniner Platz’s highly experimental production of Hedda Gabler takes certain liberties with the text of Ibsen’s play. However, as any license exercised has undoubtedly been of a highly artistic nature, which only serves to enhance the playwright’s multi-layered intent, one can only applaud it wholeheartedly.
Kay Bartholomaus Schulze, Annedore Bauer Photo by Arno Dedair 115 minutes - no interval German with English subtitles 19:45 pm Tickets £7 – 30
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