Even seasoned fans of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen will jump a mile when the Stratford Festival’s production of Hedda Gabler squeals to its haunting, horrifying halt. It’s an ending known for its abruptness — it’s also one that’s all too easy to spoil if you don’t already know the play. Director Molly Atkinson has found the perfect balance between tension and inevitability in her scorching rendering of Ibsen’s most infamous anti-hero (in an efficient, razor-edged adaptation by Patrick Marber).
For some audience members, Hedda’s fate will be crystal clear from the moment Sara Topham takes the stage. For others, the final image will feel sudden and sharp, a crushing blow that illuminates exactly how Ibsen’s play has stood the test of time. When we meet Hedda, she may or may not be pregnant, having just returned home from an underwhelming honeymoon with her new husband, Tesman (Gordon S.
Miller). Tesman’s up for a promotion — he’s certain he’s about to be offered a professorship by the local university — and, having just wed the famous General Gabler’s glamorous daughter, life couldn’t be better. Or, maybe it could.
His new wife, beautiful though she is, uses people as her playthings, manipulating others for her own entertainment. One such pawn is Tesman’s Aunt Juliana (Bola Aiyeola), a loving, maternal figure who wants nothing more than for Hedda to bear a child. When Auntie Juju (as Tesman calls her) leaves an elaborate hat on Hedda’s f.