Following a season that included a best-selling production of "The Iceman Cometh", the critically acclaimed three-person storytelling drama "Faith Healer", and the highly successful US premiere of internationally renowned playwright Conor McPherson's "The Veil", Quotidian Theatre Company opens its 17th season with a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler", updating the action of the play to the socially relevant climate of 1963 Georgetown. Quotidian's production runs October 24 - November 23 at The Writer's Center in downtown Bethesda.
1963: Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, U.S. president John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and feminist Betty Friedan wrote about housewives' dissatisfaction in her book "The Feminine Mystique".
"Hedda Gabler" revolves around a woman who has recently married for security instead of love. When Hedda's old flame returns to town with a new woman, Hedda lashes out against the restrictions society has placed on her. Audiences the world over have long been fascinated by the play's controversial central figure, who's both victim and oppressor; and Ibsen's critical examination of how women are treated in modern society remains relevant to this day.
Michael Avolio, who made his directorial debut with last season's highly praised production of "The Iceman Cometh" at Quotidian, directs his new adaptation of Ibsen's Norwegian play from 1890. "The idea was to update the piece to make it clearer and more relevant to a modern audience while retaining all the complexity, sexuality, and vitality found in Ibsen's script," Avolio says. His fresh adaptation set in a time of social and political upheaval gives a "Mad Men" style spin to a play rife with attempted affairs, sexual politics, and plenty of drinking. "Our approach should appeal to those who've seen the play many times over as well as an audience completely new to the play," says Avolio.
The cast includes Katie Culligan as the magnetic and mysterious Hedda, Brian McDermott as her new husband George, Sarah Ferris as their former classmate Thea Elvsted, Francisco Reinoso as family friend Judge Brack, Christian Sullivan as Hedda's former love Elliott Lovborg, Laura Russell as George's Aunt Julia, and Kecia Campbell as the household maid Berta.
"Subtle oppression is a theme everyone can relate to," says Avolio. "There's obviously a one-for-one comparison - while women have greater freedom today than in 1963 or 1890, the battle for equal rights has not yet been won. But even beyond that, we've all felt stifled by communities we've been a part of, whether the restriction comes from our workplace colleagues, our school classmates, our religious group, our circle of friends, or our family." Quotidian's production promises to give audiences a new angle from which to engage with Ibsen's enduring masterpiece. "As a dynamic study of human nature in all its frustrating complexity," Avolio says, "'Hedda Gabler' is timeless."
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