What does Hedda seek?  I think that’s the question at the heart of Liisa Ripo-Martelli’s adaptation of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler that opened at Coal Mine Theatre on Thursday evening.  It’s not heavily adapted.  It’s still Kristiania in the late 19th century and the environment is as dull, provincial, stuffy and “respectable” as can be.  The language is a little more direct than Ibsen especially in the way men speak to women but still more is left unsaid than not.  Presented with the audience on three sides of the tiny Coal Mine space it’s intimate to the point of, entirely appropriate, claustrophobia.

Moya O’Connell’s direction and Diana Bentley’s stunning portrayal of Hedda keep us guessing right to the end and beyond about what makes Hedda who she is and what she is looking for.  Is she just a thoroughly bored woman seeking excitement and agency in a man’s world that denies her those things?  Is it just that her attempts to do so go horribly wrong?  Or is she driven by some alternative aesthetic that seeks to make something significant and “beautiful” out of the mundane regardless of the cost?  Or is she a monster?  Whatever the answer Bentley forces us to engage with what might be going on in her head through a performance that is powerful, nuanced and very physical.

The supporting cast is uniformly strong.  Qasim Khan is perfect as Jorgen Tesman.  His inability to begin to cope with a wife who is beyond both his dreams and his capacity to comprehend is palpable.  Fiona Reid as his elderly and utterly conventional aunt is also excellent.  There’s a strong sense that neither of them have any real understanding of what’s going on when their lives are disrupted by the dangerously brilliant Eilert Lovborg; played by a menacing Andrew Chown, and the enigmatic Thea Elvsted; played her by Leah Doz, who is both terrified of Hedda and playing her own game.

Then there’s Shawn Doyle’s Judge Brack.  Here’s a man who will use what he knows and what he thinks he might know to get what he wants.  And what is that?  Hedda?  Or is he driven by some force as enigmatic as she?  Doyle keeps us guessing.  Finally, the maid Berta may be a stock character; the maid who sees and has seen more than she will ever tell, but Nancy Beatty makes her a sympathetic and nuanced example of the tyoe.

All this is backed up by some atmospheric lighting (Kaitlin Hickey) and some rather striking music and sound effects (Emily Haines and Michael Wanless).  It’s two hours of compelling theatre that, I think, will work equally well for those very familiar with Ibsen and this piece and those new to it.

Hedda Gabler runs at Coal Mine Theatre until May 26th.

Photo credits: Elena Emer