BWW Review: Stellar HEDDA GABLER at Antaeus Company: THE PISTOLS CAST
Ibsen's Hedda Gabler steeped in 19th century realism has never been presented with more visual splendor than in Antaeus' current production. It is their last in the NoHo space before moving to a new theatre in Glendale in the fall, but that is hardly the reason to see it. It is memorable all by itself for its splendid translation by Andrew Upton (2004) and glorious casts under the sterling direction of Steven Robman. Hedda (Nike Doukas in the Pistols ensemble) lives in a fantasyland, a world of her own creation, one which to her is remarkably perfect and beautiful. The opulent home of her husband professor Jorgen Tesman (JD Cullum) is to her, shabby and boring. She hates it as much as her marriage to him, so she envisions in her own mind how she wishes her life to be, controlling the destiny of those around her, viewing even death in terms of its beauty and ... freedom. Delusional or not, she refuses to give in to the will of others and thus remains the quintessential literary tragedienne of the 19th century.
