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'Hedda Gabler': Parlor games for the obsessed
Karen Jadlos Shotts in the title role of "Hedda Gabler," now on stage at the Industrial Strength Theatre in Herndon, is intriguing and unnerving – something that isn't easily accomplished.
Hers is a complex and potentially unattractive role. Hedda is a spoiled young woman from the Victorian upper class who is clearly unhappy with the hand she's been dealt – think Scarlett O'Hara with far less tenacity and fewer instincts for self-preservation.
Just back from a six-month honeymoon, Hedda is disenchanted with almost every aspect of her new life, and spends her time complaining about the dreariness of the new house, the daylight, the company ... and most of all, her new husband, George Tessman.
In no time at all, she becomes the protagonist we love to hate.
And yet, what's this I feel? Is it empathy? Sympathy? Understanding? After all, George, played by Ted Culler, is so cloying. He's clueless and unimaginative. Dull. By the end of the play, I wasn't sure I wanted to be in the same theater with him. He certainly doesn't offer much to hold the interest of a vivacious, attractive woman like Hedda.
Especially when she still burns for her old flame, the sexy Eilert Lovborg, played by Nader Tavangar. He's dashing while George is a dolt, emotive while George is unfeeling, expressive while George is detached, attentive while George is distracted.
And to make matters worse, Lovborg is suddenly competing with George for a university position that George was sure he'd been promised, which sends him into a paroxysm of worry and self-doubt.
Meanwhile, Lovborg has attracted the attentions of confused, anemic Thea Elvsted, played by Laura Russell. She is thoroughly smitten, though Lovborg seems not to notice. Hedda does, however, and her jealousy seethes.
This dysfunctional troupe of characters is nudged along its lethal collision course by the devious Judge Brack, played by Al Fetske, a familiar face among Elden Street Players casts. He needles Hedda in ways that unleash her obsessions and her rage at life.
I won't tell you how it all ends except to say that if you don't know, you'll be surprised. Hedda is ill-advised to take matters into her own hands, but she does so anyway.
Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" is a classic, dealing like so many classics do with the underbelly of human emotions and drives. But human beings are complicated, and for all their faults some redeeming qualities usually do emerge. That's what makes people so interesting – and so hard to figure out at times.
For that reason, I felt the script demanded a more nuanced approach from the actors. For these characters to work, the audience needs to feel attracted and repelled at the same time. It's that tension that drives the plot.
Shotts understands this – as Hedda, her quick intelligence, dark beauty and purposeful charm belie her sanguinary nature. She deftly draws us in, then leads us to the slaughter. Watching her do this is worth the price of a ticket.
There are six more performances: Feb. 8, 9, 10, 14, 15 and 16. For tickets, call 703-481-5930 or visit www.eldenstreetplayers.org.
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