Luke+Lujan+Hedda+Gabler

Luke Lujan
 * Your choice of words and expressions needs to be more carefully considered by you so that you don't raise more issues about what you want to say. This review was somewhat better than the previous one because you focused on more exact references from the production.**


 * B**

**Critique Hedda Gabler**

In the play //Hedda Gabler// written by Henrik Ibsen and directed by Ray Paolino the idea that “information” is power is placed at the forefront. The struggles that come along with it are presented in the themes of destiny, romance and change. Ultimately it is the relationship that is weaved (**woven**?) between these characters that make up the settling and plot of the play (**a rather vague generalization that I hope you can prove below.**) Hedda is used as the center of this connection and the relationships of with those around her shape the actions that each character takes.

The (**way the**) set (**was composed?**) made a very interesting choice. It was a dark set with chairs that circled around a stage that was surrounded by white curtains. The stage floor was covered with many different trunks and around it mirrors danged along side mannequins from the ceiling. The lights played a large role in this set creating a stage that spotlighted the actors in the centers while making a subtle reference to the actors who sat in the surrounding chairs. I thought the lighting could have been used differently. At one point Hedda asks for the curtains to be adjusted to let in some light. When adjusted their was no real change in light. I thought that this was a simple enough of a task to make the audience buy into the action of the character. I would later realize that the play although could be portrayed with realism in this case was very stylized and theatrical. At the end of the play when Hedda tragically commits suicide, there are different color lights that are being shown on the different curtains that the actors are speaking from behind. In the play I saw, when the shot was fired a red light was not shown on the curtain to display blood or power. In other plays I have been told that the light on the curtain was changed to red. The props that were used also had symbolic meaning. The moving of the trunks and books back and forth was almost a metaphor for the movement of information between the individuals. The hat that Aunt Julia wore almost symbolized a lower class or the idea of being an outsider, this was used as a prop when set on the table and Hedda refers to it as the maids hat. The use of electronics for props were also very stylized. When talking about taking notes the actors pulled out cell phones to exchange information. The manuscript that is written by Eilert is on an iPad. These are all decisions of (**by**) the production team that I think took away (**distracted or were inconsistent with**) from the portrayal of the time period but also gave the play its own identity of almost new age steam punk feel.

The University of Georgia Department of Theatre and Film Studies and Director Paolino took a different angle to a play that could have used realism but in this case was theatrical. I did not particularly agree with many of the chooses that were made in the look to the characters and the acting of the script. For example when the play began, Aunt Julia came to visit Tesman and Hedda, it was difficult for me to visualize her as being an Aunt like figure (**awkward expression**). The actress portraying Aunt Julia chose to use an accent that made her feel aged but at the same time her costume and body type took away from that feeling. Her having one side of her head shaved and having a nose ring in took away from the feeling of a loving Aunt and made her look more as an outsider. I feel like the director may have chosen to do this simply due to the fact that the Aunt was treated as an outside by Hedda, who ultimately makes up the arrangement of the play itself.

I thing that the actor who portrayed Tesman took his acting too far at times. This was done with the way he delivered his lines, they were very over the top and his tone was one that seemed forced. I also saw this with the way that he portrayed Tesman as almost a little boy, this became apparent when the Aunt tickles him in the opening scene while he sits in her lap. This remained a theme displayed by him consistently receive little treats from the maid. I believe that this took away from the idea that Tesman was a good academic and that he was moving up in the academic world. Although, this portrayal would allow for the type of relationship that Tesman has with Hedda to be established. Tesman was almost played the role of an innocent and gullible young boy, even though he was a man with a possible child on the way. I also thought that Tesman playing a boy was particular symbolic for Hedda. When she married Tesman, we find out later in a private conversation between her and her childhood fling (Eilert), that she believed her days of youthfulness were past her. When marrying Tesman who portrays almost a youthful soul she is unable to move on from the days that have past her but she still silently longs for. This is displayed in the kiss that Eilert shares with Hedda. I also think this is alluded to by Hedda asking for a horse from Tesman, almost like a young girl asking for a pony.

The director’s decision to cast Eilert was one that puzzled me. Eilert is supposed to be a “lady’s man”, as displayed to us through the play by Elvsted leaving her husband for Eilert. I did not see the actor as that type of individual or able of portraying that type of provocative nature. I also did not like the fact that the actor who portrayed Eilert had one side of his hair dyed green. I think the reasoning behind this may have been similar to that of Aunt Julia’s nose ring and shaved head; to give off the idea that they were almost outsiders.

The casting of Judge Brack I thought was a good decision. I think that his stature and his outfit portrayed a larger, stronger built man and showed position of power. The Judge delivered his lines well and used an accent that displayed his carefulness with his wording. The Judge has an interesting relationship with Hedda. He has assisted Tesman in obtaining the home for Hedda, but it their a relationship between Hedda and Judge is alluded to, by having him enter from the back door. This also seems to be the relationship the Judge is after. After Hedda shoots at the Judge with her fathers pistols he over powers her taking the gun and placing it to her head. I think this struggle, although Hedda seems helpless, is more a struggle of the Judge and his quest for power he longs to have with Hedda. At the end of the play when the Judge posses the information about the pistol that was used to kill Eilert, he shows the use of his power that he had struggled to gained over Hedda.

Hedda was central to the plot, the development of relationships between character and their interactions. I though Hedda was portrayed beautifully. The chose of actress was well made, the woman was attractive and it was easy to believe that all the men had fallen for her. The fact that she is referred to as Hedda Gabler multiple times in the play rather than Mrs. Tesman shows that she is a character that is one in her own and as Isben wrote, “a personality”. This personality was well played, to me I saw as a struggle for control. Hedda struggles with this many times throughout the play. The first one that I noticed was when Tesman would speak of how much more filled out Hedda had become almost alluding to her being pregnant. Each time she dismiss these ideas never wanting to speak of them. Being married naturally carries the expectation of children, and is bound to happen at some point, but she continued to resist to this change. Her actions were a balancing act, never fully thought out but never were too crazy either. This is displayed in her speaking about wanting to control one’s destiny. She has struggled so much with trying to control her own destiny that she involves herself in the lives of other in order to control theirs. This is apparent through the control that she has over the men. They all find her beautiful and at many times make plays at her, giving her power over them. Her struggle for the control of one’s destiny was most prominently seen when Hedda gets ahold of the manuscript “information”. She decided to not tell either Eilert or Elvsted what really happened to his manuscript. She finally had found the power “information” to control ones destiny. By destroying the manuscript “information” she used her power and ultimately was attempting to control Eilert’s destiny. While speaking to Eilert I think that she finally realizes that she will never have complete control. She tells him that he should have a "beautiful" suicide, foreshadowing the fact that this is how she is going to finally but tragically end her struggles. She has fought for so long and is giving up, but at the same time in a sense, by ending her life, gaining that control she longed for.

I think the fact that Hedda ended the play from behind the middle curtain, showed how central she was to all the other characters. This centralism held a different position of power over each character. With the men it was their love and passion. As shown by Tesman's almost obsession with his wife. He would routinely comment on her beauty. With Judge Brack it was his pursuit to build a relationship aside from their public one. The Judge spoke of the triangle between Tesman, Hedda and himself. With Eilert it was her control of his longing for their past love, his manuscript and his life. With Aunt Julia, it was illusion to lack of social status and control of Tesman. With Elvsted, it was her manipulation of their relationship and the contribution to the end of her’s with Eilert. It was Hedda’s control of these things that gave her power over all the individuals in the play except herself. This not only allowed for their woven interconnection but ultimately led to her tragic struggle. The set was setup as a circle with the acting taking place in the middle and the additional characters surrounding them. I thought this played into the theme of their interconnectedness and exchange of information as power. I also thought that this helped serve as a reminder that things that are done are heard and seen by other people and at many times characters would come from outside the circle to deliver hear-say information to characters in the current scene. The choice to take a realistic play and make it very stylized and theatrical created a different identity and took some time for me to buy into. At first when the actors used there phones I was outraged and when the manuscript was presented on an iPad I was appalled. I also disagreed with the fact that in the script it says that Hedda tore-up the manuscript and lit it on fire when she actually on stage took a hammer to the iPad. After some reflection I went back and now have a different sense of appreciation for their style choice. I now see the decision to hammer the iPad as a much more powerful and memorable action than that of just placing it into a fake flame. I think that these new age references can almost reference out society today and the ease of access to information. I think the play acts as almost a warning. That this central idea of information is power and having or not having can decide one’s potion and ultimately one’s fate.