Mauckingbird Theater Co Presents 'HEDDA GABLER' 1/10/09

Mauckingbird Theatre Company will present Hedda Gabler as a compelling lesbian drama with the professional premiere of playwright Caroline Kava's explosive new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic. After the success of their critically acclaimed and sold-out inaugural season with all-male versions of The Misanthrope and Shakespeare's R & J, Mauckingbird's Hedda Gabler, explores lesbian relationships and the search for personal and sexual identity while exposing class divides, sexism, and the influence of money and status in aristocratic and bourgeois worlds.

Directed by Mauckingbird Artistic Director Peter Reynolds, the production runs from January 10- 29, 2009 (opening night is January 13) at the Adrienne Theatre's Second Stage, located at 2030 Sansom Street in Philadelphia. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and $15 for students and are available by calling (215) 923-8909 or online at www.mauckingbirdtheatreco.org.

In Hedda Gabler, rising scholar George Tesman, played by Dito van Reigersberg (Pig Iron Theatre Company member and star of last year's The Misanthrope) has just married the beautiful, dangerously intelligent and much desired Hedda Gabler, played by Jennie Eisenhower. The newlyweds' lives are thrown into disarray and their livelihood is threatened with the unexpected return of Miss Eilert Lovborg (Pig Iron Theatre Company member Sarah Sanford), Tesman's rival and Hedda's true love. Hedda becomes consumed with jealousy as she watches Lovborg live her life with abandon, dressing in men's clothes and openly seeing other women. Dissatisfied with conventional life and trapped in an unfulfilling marriage, Hedda wrestles with her own desires while manipulating those around her in a cruel game. As the dramatic interpretation unfolds and tensions rise, Hedda's world begins to self-destruct in Ibsen's classic exploration of the moral faults of modern society.

The play's complex group of characters also features Mrs. Thea Elvsted (Jessica DalCanton), who has rashly left her husband for an unconventional life with Eilert Lovborg, the conniving Judge Brack (Matthew Lorenz), a friend of the Tesmans' and suitor of Hedda, George Tesman's Aunt Julia (Cheryl Williams), and Berta (Kristen O'Rourke), servant to the Tesmans'.

Playwright Caroline Kava's provocative adaptation of Hedda Gabler offers the character of Hedda - known as the 'female Hamlet' - bold new dimensions. With Eilert Lovborg written as a woman, the play produces two significant lesbian relationships - the relationship between Thea and Lovborg and the forbidden affair between Hedda and Lovborg.

"Ibsen characterized Hedda as the archetypal trapped woman, and while Caroline Kava's adaptation is primarily faithful to the original text, the new storyline generated by Lovborg's simple gender twist adds an additional layer to Hedda's feelings of isolation and societal entrapment," says Peter Reynolds. "Hedda expresses genuine grief about her desire to be with another woman, in a time when it was inconceivable to engage in same-sex affairs. Ultimately, her search for identity escalates to a fever pitch, climaxing in tragedy."

The Hedda Gabler cast is led by three acclaimed local actors. Dito van Reigersberg (George Tesman) is a founding member and Co-Artistic Director of Pig Iron Theatre Company and has also made a name for himself over the past several years performing as his drag alter-ego, Miss Martha Graham-Cracker. He has performed with several Philadelphia companies, including Arden Theatre Company, Mum Puppettheatre, Lantern Theater Company, Headlong Dance Theater, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Van Reigersberg studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse, the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and is a graduate of Swarthmore College.

Jennie Eisenhower (Hedda) is an actor, director and teacher based in Philadelphia. She has performed in productions by Act 2 Playhouse, The Wilma Theater, Bristol Riverside Theatre, People's Light and Theatre Company, and The Media Theatre, where she won a Best Supporting Actress Barrymore Award for her role in The Wild Party.

Sarah Sanford (Eilert Lovborg) is a company member of Pig Iron Theatre Company and has performed in productions by The Wilma Theater, Lantern Theatre Company, and BRAT Productions, among others. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and École Internationale de Théatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

The Hedda Gabler production team includes costume designer Marie Anne Chiment, dramaturg Jennifer Jacobs, set designer Corey Palmer, and lighting designer Maria Shaplin.

Playwright Caroline Kava is an actor, director and playwright well-known in theatre circles and highly recognizable by film and TV audiences. Kava is a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse, where she studied with Sanford Meisner. She received a B.A. in writing and performance from Empire State College of the State University of New York, and an M.F.A. in film directing from Columbia University. She has taught acting at the University of Miami, Barnard College and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Kava's plays include The Early Girl, which was produced by Circle Repertory Company in New York, and Hedda Gabler, which was originally produced at the studio theatre of the University of Miami. She has directed off-Broadway, at the Chautauqua Institute, Purchase College and the University of Illinois. Her New York theatre credits include Threepenny Opera directed by Richard Foreman and Cloud 9 directed by Tommy Tune. Her film credits include Born on the Fourth of July, Year of the Dragon, and Snow Falling on Cedars. She has appeared in numerous television programs including Nobody's, directed by Lee Grant, Guilty Until Proven Innocent, with Martin Sheen, and guest appearances on Law & Order, The Practice, Dawson's Creek and many others. Her short film, Polio Water, was included in the British Short and New York film festivals, and was awarded the IFP/Bravo Grand Prize. Her second film, Number One, was included in the British Short Film Festival and won Princess Grace and DGA awards.

Founded by Artistic Director Peter Reynolds and Managing Director Lindsay Mauck, Mauckingbird Theatre Company is committed to producing professional gay-themed theatre, while also exploring classic literature and musical genres and providing affordable productions of infrequently produced works.

Reynolds currently serves as the Director of Musical Theater for the Department of Theater at Temple University. For Temple Theaters he has directed productions of Damn Yankees, Into the Woods, Ragtime, Company, Pericles, Shakin' the Mess Outta Misery and Beautiful Thing. In Philadelphia, he has directed productions at Act II Playhouse, Walnut Street Theatre, Hedgerow Theatre, Villanova Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company in their collaborations with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and he spent two seasons with the Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center in New Jersey where he assisted the Producing Artistic Director. Reynolds spent 6 years as Artistic Director of the award-winning HealthWorks Theatre in Chicago and has also worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Building Chicago, Apollo Theatre Chicago, St. Louis' HotCity Theatre, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, and Maples Repertory.

Dates: January 10 - 29, 2009
Previews run January 10 - 11
*Opening night is Tuesday, January 13

Location: Adrienne Theatre, Second Stage
2030 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Prices: Adults - $20, Seniors - $18,
Students - $15, for all performances
Box Office: (215) 923-8909
Web: www.mauckingbirdtheatreco.org

Cast (in alphabetical order)
Jessica DalCanton Mrs. Thea Elvsted
Jennie Eisenhower Hedda Tesman
Matthew Lorenz Judge Brack
Kristen O'Rourke Berta, servant at the Tesmans
Sarah Sanford Miss Eilert Lovborg
Dito van Reigersberg George Tesman
Cheryl Williams Aunt Julia Tesman

Production Team
Marie Anne Chiment Costume Designer
Jennifer Jacobs Dramaturg
Corey Palmer Set Designer
Maria Shaplin Lighting Designer

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