Blanchett's 'Hedda' raises Ibsen fever another notch
Interest could have far-reaching effects
Of course, Ibsen never really disappeared from the stage. Joan Templeton, author of the book "Ibsen's Women," and president of the Ibsen Society of America, notes, "(He's) the most widely produced playwright in the world after Shakespeare."
But recent seasons have seen regional productions of "A Doll's House" joined by a phalanx of high-profile revivals and experiments.
When Blanchett checks into the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the Sydney production's transfer season, she will become the fifth Hedda to visit Gotham in the last 18 months. In September 2004, there was Ivo van Hove's celebrated New York Theater Workshop staging with Elizabeth Marvel, and the character showed up in two Ibsen-themed parodies at last summer's New York Intl. Fringe Festival. The desperate hausfrau is even chased by robots in "Heddatron," the sci-fi deconstruction from cutting-edge experimental troupe Les Freres Corbusier running at Here Arts Center.
Add that to last spring's London revival, directed by Richard Eyre at the Almeida, and "Hedda Gabler" is omnipresent.
But the frenzy doesn't stop there. Mabou Mines' "Dollhouse" heads to Yale Rep in March, and last June the Goodman preemed Rebecca Gilman's adaptation of Nora's tale. Meanwhile, Londoners have been treated to critically lauded productions of "Pillars of the Community" (at the National) and "The Wild Duck" (at Donmar Warehouse).
That "Duck" then flies to BAM in October, completing a Henrik hat trick at the theater that also includes "Hedda" and Robert Wilson's take on "Peer Gynt," opening April 11.
Asked why BAM is so flush with Ibsen mania, exec producer Joe Melillo says the writer's primacy is more accident than design.
"It was a matter of opportunities arising at the same time," he explains, "When ('Gabler' director) Robyn Nevin flies in from Sydney to discuss her production, it's humbling ..., (and) when you have a great actor like Cate Blanchett involved, attention must be paid."
Meanwhile, as Melillo was mulling "Hedda," Wilson invited him to Norway to see "Peer Gynt." He says he was so excited by the "completely reimagined" work that he couldn't pass it up.
Interestingly enough, BAM's three productions appear during the 100th anniversary of Ibsen's death, though Melillo says the overlap "didn't influence (his) decision." He stresses the work he's presenting will be "arresting and dramatic -- not museum theater."
Melillo can't say why so many interpretations are coinciding, but he does speculate a play like "Hedda" resonates because its heroine, trapped in a life she loathes, reflects our world by showing "societal forces far greater than the individual."
"Heddatron" playwright Elizabeth Meriwether suggests Ibsen's works are being embraced because they're too complex to feel like simple morality plays. In "Hedda," she says, "There's a mystery about her motivations that can't be solved. There's no message to be taken away from it, and I like that."
Whatever the reason, all this interest could have far-reaching effects. For one, star power like Blanchett's should entice fresh auds, even those who find classics too musty.
And young artists like Meriwether and "Avenue Q" scribe Jeff Whitty, whose "The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler" opened last month at South Coast Rep, could get their coveted peer group to buy tickets. At most perfs of "Heddatron," the majority of the crowd is under 35.
Best of all, the bulk of these shows have proven critical hits, or in the case of Whitty's or Meriwether's plays, have been widely praised for their inventiveness.
Either way, the sudden proliferation of Ibsen plays is ensuring that the century-old works are getting new life.
