HEDDA GABLER Opens at Coal Mine Theatre Next Month

Following the company’s first World Premiere production of DION: A ROCK OPERA last month, COAL MINE THEATRE will conclude the 23.24 season with another first – the staging of a European classic.
 
Beginning May 5th, COAL MINE’S own Diana Bentley will assume one of the most complex and heralded characters in the theatre cannon, HEDDA GABLER, in a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s timeless drama by Liisa Repo-Martell. The production is directed by Moya O’Connell who astounded Toronto audiences with her performance in THE SOUND INSIDE at COAL MINE last season. Bentley will be joined on stage by an exceptional acting company that includes Nancy Beatty, Andrew Chown, Shawn Doyle, Leah Doz, Qasim Khan, andFiona Reid. METRIC’s luminous lead singer Emily Haines joins the team to compose the original score and Joshua Quinlan will design Set and Costumes, incorporating special pieces on loan from beloved Toronto design house Horses Atelier.
 
“There are moments when you realize an artistic endeavour and a human soul are in perfect sync,” says Moya O’Connell. “When Diana and I first spoke about directing and the theatre I came away from our time together thinking, "Jesus she's smart and charming and brutally, ruthlessly honest. I need to spend more time in her orbit.” And then we began speaking about HEDDA GABLER. And it became clear to me that Diana MUST play this part. Her magnetism, intelligence, experience, hungry heart, and ability to cut through bullshit, yet navigate it with a knowing grace was electrifying. Diana is electrifying. To be in her orbit is to feel a little bit more alive. She sets a room on fire.” 
 
Liisa Repo-Martell adds, "I cannot wait to see Diana bring her wicked wit and wild heart to tackling one of the most outrageous and compelling characters in the history of theatre. She is a fearless, hilarious, and original artist. Her Hedda will be all of those things." 

A masterpiece of literary realism which first premiered in 1891, at the center of HEDDA GABLER is one of the great dramatic roles for women — a deeply elusive character filled with longing in a world that has nothing for her. In the play, Hedda, the daughter of a general, arrives home from her honeymoon already bored and filled with contempt for her husband and the respectable life he represents. When the re-appearance of an old flame threatens both her husband’s career prospects and her stability, Hedda contrives to manipulate everyone in her orbit, becoming the architect of her own destruction. 
 
Henrik Ibsen's singular work shocked late-19th-century audiences with its complex portrait of female identity and independence, while offering up one of theatre's great tragic characters, sometimes described as a female variation on Hamlet.  Over the years the role has been personified by some of the most distinguished actresses of any time: Annette Benning, Ingrid Bergman, Cate Blanchett, Judy Davis, Eleanora Duse, Jane Fonda, Isabelle Huppert, and Mary-Louise Parker, are just a few to have played the role. Director O’Connell herself portrayed Gabler in a 2012 production at the Shaw Festival and in 2023 directed a translation by Errol Durbach at Vancouver’s Jericho Arts Centre.
 
Of the play O’Connell adds, “Hedda Gabler is an unknowable creature. We long to understand her edges and hidden places, we seek her vulnerable spots and the reasons behind her character but like every truly great creation she eludes us. The life force of Hedda is immense. The hunger of Hedda is immense. Her soul reaches for more as the world tells her she should be satiated in her sitting room. A woman not made for her time. Perhaps not our time. Nor any time at all. She cannot and will not be contained.
 
“Each of the characters in this play are extraordinary portraits. It is polyphonic. Many voices. Deeply detailed. Transgressive. Idealistic. A play about art and creation and destruction and birth and money and sex and death. You know, the good stuff. A single sitting room over the course of 48 hours where unspoken desires roil just beneath the surface. The play teems with life and sex and rot and transgression. With Coal Mine Theatre, we have the opportunity to stage a radically intimate experience for the audience. And to collaborate on a new adaptation of Hedda Gabler by Liisa Repo-Martell is a gift. Liisa understands Ibsen and the theatre and this moment. To examine this play with her keen eye, brilliant mind and huge heart is thrilling.”
 
HEDDA GABLER is on stage at the COAL MINE THEATRE May 5th – May 26th, 2024. (Media night: May 9th) Tickets are available now at coalminetheatre.ca.

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