Displaying items by tag: HEDDA GABLER

An Ibsen play on a cold winter’s evening just feels right. Marti Lyons delivers a stylish (and concise) production of “Hedda Gabler” at Remy Bumppo. With an impressive cast of Remy Bumppo ensemble and new faces, this 100-minute version gets right to the point.

Among the countless translations and adaptations of “Hedda Gabler” that have been written, Christopher Shinn’s version makes a bold, modern statement. Taken from a literal adaptation by Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey, this telling dispenses with Ibsen’s ambiguity almost entirely. Classic melodramas tend to run long and in this day and age, audiences easily grow frustrated with overly long plays laden with innuendo. Shinn’s version is structured in a way that modern audiences will take more from. While the Shinn script may not have been a success on Broadway in 2009 (even with Mary Louise Parker), Marti Lyons’ revival strikes the right balance with it.

Ensemble member Annabel Armour as Aunt Tesman has the first lines and immediately sets the tone of the new Tesman home, a vibe that’s somewhere between charming and unsettling. Armour captures something both aspirational and pitiful about the character in her reliably masterful way. In this telling, Hedda, who is played by Aurora Real de Asua, is feral, almost manic. Her short temper is always shown through smiling teeth and far-off looks. Hedda here is more certain of feeling trapped in a bad marriage. It’s less of a revelation and more of a palpable sense of dread. The only female character that seems to threaten Hedda is Thea Elvsted played by Gloria Imseih Petrelli, whose raw vulnerability is a counter to Hedda’s rampant cruelty.

Greg Matthew Anderson plays the blackmailing judge Brack with such dastardly charm, it’s almost hard to see what Hedda objects to. In the same way Thea is the counter of Hedda, Ejlert Lovborg (Felipe Carrasco) is the helplessly vulnerable of the two men. Carrasco’s performance is also that of a condemned man. In other scripts, this acceptance comes at a more laborious price. Here his conflict with conventional society feels urgent from the start.

Remy Bumppo brings a lot of humor to “Hedda Gabler”. Hedda’s one-liners have always been amusing, in the same mean-spiritedness of an Albee play. Linda Gillum brings a lot of physical comedy as Berte, the Tesman’s quirky maid. Shinn’s script has a sharp sense of wit, even if the somewhat frank sexual metaphors seem closer to 2026 than 1891.

Along with a more forwardly grown-up script, Kotryna Hilko and Joe Schermoly’s costumes and sets are bathed in a moody purple and when paired with Christopher Kriz' electrifying incidental music brings on the feeling of an impending storm.

“Hedda Gabler” is a divisive play. You can either see her as a victim or a spoiled villain. Shinn makes that decision for you, in at-times clunky divulgences. This particular version might not find you quibbling over the character’s true wants or intentions. Instead, Shinn is cutting away the excess so audiences can focus on the powerful statement Ibsen was making before most women knew true autonomy.

Through March 8 at Remy Bumppo at Theatre Wit. 1229 W Belmont Ave. 773-975-8150

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s 30th anniversary season continues with Hedda Gabler, adapted by Christopher Shinn, based on the literal translation by Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey and directed by Artistic Director Marti Lyons, February 5 - March 8, 2026, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Previews are Thursday, Feb. 5 through Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 8 at 2:30 p.m.. Regular performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. with additional matinees on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday, Mar. 7 at 2:30 p.m. There will be an audio described performance with a touch tour on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. with the 2:30 p.m. performance and an open captioned performance on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m. Remy Bumppo’s Between the Lines offering, which includes a pre-show lecture and a post-show talkback, will occur on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. Single tickets are now on sale at RemyBumppo.org. Groups of 10 or more may call the Theater Wit Box Office at 773.975.8150 to receive group discounts and make reservations. 

This Broadway adaptation of Ibsen’s timeless drama presents a powerful Hedda Gabler as she desires to escape from a loveless, ordinary existence. Beginning with the return from her honeymoon, Hedda finds herself bored of her husband, and longing for the days when she was free to exercise her wild and independent whims. With the return of an old flame and a proposition from an amorous judge, she begins a dangerous game, amusing herself by manipulating and destroying everyone around her in an attempt to regain control of her life.

“Hedda Gabler is a hauntingly timely play. In Christopher Shinn’s taut adaptation, Ibsen’s examination of temptation, power, and agency is given a riveting new life,” said Lyons. “Our production will feature a magnificent ensemble of Remy Bumppo artists and esteemed collaborators. This production continues our celebration of 30 years of Remy Bumppo.” 

The cast of Hedda Gabler includes includes Aurora Real de Asua*+ (she/her, Mrs. Hedda Tesman), Greg Matthew Anderson* (he/him, Judge Brack), Annabel Armour*+ (she/her, Miss Juliane Tesman), Eduardo Curley*+ (he/him, Jorgen Tesman), Linda Gillum*+ (she/her, Berte), Travis Knight* (he/him, Ejlert Lovborg) and Gloria Imseih Petrelli (she/they, Mrs. Thea Elvsted).

The creative and production team for Hedda Gabler includes Marti Lyons~ (she/her, director/artistic director), Devon Hayakawa (any with respect, asst. director), Adelina Feldman-Schultz, Tertulia Creative Solutions (casting director), Katie Galetti (casting consultant), Alison Dornheggen (she/her, violence designer), Joe Schermoly^ (scenic designer), Amanda Herrmann^ (they/them, properties designer), Max Grano De Oro (he/him, lighting designer), Chelsea Strebe (asst. lighting designer), Christopher Kriz^ (he/him, composer/ sound designer), Kotryna Hilko^ (she/her, costume designer), Johnnie Schleyer (he/him, production manager), Jean E. Compton*^ (she/her, stage manager); Macy Mateer (asst. stage manager), Nick Chamernik (lighting supervisor), Gabriela Carrillo (wardrobe supervisor), Margaret McCloskey (she/her, executive director), Christina Casano (she/her, creative producer), Missy Preston (they/them, development manager), John Craig (they/he, operation manager) and Emily Szymanski (she/her, patron services & communications coordinator).

~ denotes member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

+ denotes Core Ensemble Member

^ denotes Associate Artist 

* denotes member of Actors Equity Association 

Cast and creative team members are subject to change. 

ABOUT CHRISTOPHER SHINN, adaptor

Christopher Shinn is a playwright who lives in New York. Several of his plays have premiered at the Royal Court: Four, Other People, Where Do We Live (2005 Obie Award for Playwriting), Dying City (2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist) and Now or Later (shortlisted for the Evening Standard Theatre Award, Best Play). Other plays include The Narcissist (Chichester Festival Theatre), Against (Almeida Theatre), Teddy Ferrara (Goodman Theatre and Donmar Warehouse), An Opening in Time (Hartford Stage), Picked (Vineyard Theatre), On the Mountain (South Coast Rep), What Didn’t Happen (Playwrights Horizons) and The Coming World (Soho Theatre).

His adaptation of Hedda Gabler premiered on Broadway in 2009 and his adaptation of Judgment Day premiered at Park Avenue Armory in 2019 and was nominated for a 2020 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Adaptation. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in 2005, a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard in 2019-2020, a Cullman Fellow at New York Public Library in 2020-2021, a MacDowell Fellow in 2023 and a Hawthornden Fellow in 2024.

ABOUT MARTI LYONS, director

Marti Lyons most recently directed the Jeff-nominated ‘ART’ by Yasmina Reza, Love Song by John Kolvenbach and Galileo’s Daughter by Jessica Dickey at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Lyons also directed Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley at Northlight Theatre, Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess at Milwaukee Rep, Sense and Sensibility adapted by Jessica Swale at American Players Theatre and the world-premiere of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. Selected other credits include: The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess at Writers Theatre; Cymbeline at American Players Theatre; The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and Kings by Sarah Burgess at Studio Theatre; the world-premiere of How to Defend Yourself by Liliana Padilla, a Victory Gardens and Actors Theatre of Louisville co-production; Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee at Victory Gardens and City Theatre; Witch by Jen Silverman at Geffen Playhouse and Writers Theatre (LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Direction); Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías at Victory Gardens; Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; I, Banquo at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Title and Deed by Will Eno at Lookingglass Theatre Company and Laura Marks’ Bethany and Mine at The Gift Theatre. Lyons is also an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre and a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

MORE FROM REMY BUMPPO THEATRE COMPANY

Readings on Ravenswood 

Spring 2026

Remy Bumppo Rehearsal Room, 1751 W. Grace St.

Complete list of plays, actors, directors and dates to be announced in 2026. 

Readings on Ravenswood returns for its third season with more plays featuring favorite playwrights and Core Ensemble members. Each reading includes a conversation with audience members immediately following that night’s selected play. 

Dates and other information shared are subject to change. 

ABOUT REMY BUMPPO THEATRE COMPANY

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company expands and enriches their community’s view of the world, and their own, by producing both the great plays of the past and the important plays of today. As an ensemble-driven theater company, Remy Bumppo authors a more humane culture that listens to, and seeks to understand, the voices, the ideas and the stories of one another. 

Since its inception in 1996, Remy Bumppo has produced a blend of modern classics and complex contemporary works, presented in an intimate setting with clarity, wit and passion. We invite audiences to engage directly with the art through conversation with the artists.

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Hedda Gabler

Adapted by: Christopher Shinn

Based on the literal translation by: Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey

Directed by: Artistic Director Marti Lyons (she/her/hers)

Website link: RemyBumppo.org

Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60657

Previews: Thursday, Feb. 5 - Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 8 at 2:30 p.m.

Press/Opening Performance: Monday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.

Regular Run: Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. with additional matinees on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday, Mar. 7 at 2:30 p.m.

Run Time: 90 minutes with no intermission

Additional Matinee Performances: Thursday, Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday, Mar. 7 at 2:30 p.m.

Remy Bumppo’s Between the Lines: Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. Pre-show Lecture at 1:15 p.m.

Remy Bumppo’s Between the Lines performances include a pre-show lecture led by a Chicago luminary who will discuss the themes of the play, the performance, and a post show talkback with the artists.

ACCESS PERFORMANCES:

Audio Description/Touch Tour Performance: Thursday, Feb. 12 at 1 p.m., performance at 2:30 p.m. 

Listeners will hear a description of actions, body language, lights, costumes, scenery and other aspects of the production not conveyed by voices and sounds from the stage.This service allows blind and visually- impaired patrons to hear a description of the visual elements taking place on stage. 

Touch Tours are 45 minute artistic conversations and tactile explorations of costumes, props and set pieces for patrons who are blind or low-vision

Open Caption Performance: Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m.

At the Open-Captioned performance, a TV monitor will present dialogue and sounds in text that is in sync with the performance. 

Previews: $32.00 - $36.00

Regular Run: $36.00 - $55.00

Industry Tickets: $20.00, available for Thursday and Friday performances using

code INDUSTRY

Student Tickets: $15.00, available for all performances

Group Discounts: For groups of 10 or more, call the Theater Wit Box Office at

773-975-8150.

‘Hedda Gabler’ has mystified audiences for generations, as this was certainly Ibsen’s intention when creating this endlessly fascinating character. The Artistic Home transforms the Den Theatre into 1890s Norway for their production of Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe’s 2015 adaptation of ‘Hedda Gabler’. Under Monica Payne’s direction, this contemporary-voiced retelling is diabolically humorous.

Any production of ‘Hedda Gabler’ is only as good as their Hedda. In Brookelyn Hebert, Monica Payne has a frighteningly self-assured Hedda who is insatiably fun to watch. Flanked by Todd Wocjik as Jorge Tesman and John Mossman as Judge Brack, Hebert plays both the conqueror and conquered with hot tempered fluidity.

Ibsen, like Chekhov, helped usher in a new era of modern theatre that would inspire 20th century playwrights like Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill. With focus on the doldrums of a waning aristocracy, Ibsen captures the everyday hopes and disappointments of his characters in scenes that feel as relevant today as when they were written.

What makes ‘Hedda Gabler’ unique is the myriads of ways a director and an actress can approach the title role. Ibsen’s play is somewhat vague so that audiences and theater makers are free to go with their own interpretation of what motivates Hedda.

In this new version by Mark O’Rowe, many of the Easter eggs Ibsen drops throughout the play are further expanded upon so that audiences have even more context for Hedda’s past and present. In Rowe’s version, Hedda is quicker to anger and more self-aware than in previous iterations. An angrier Hedda shows the brewing hostility of a woman trapped by society, which makes her downfall all the more tragic.

Time seems to fly with O’Rowe’s modern language. Instead of literary innuendo, characters are free to discuss sexuality and substance abuse with more directness. Two and a half hours can feel long for a classic melodrama, but this script has a lot of juicy scene work to keep audiences on the edge of their seat, even if they know what’s going to happen next.

Plays like ‘Hedda Gabler’ do exactly what good plays should, and that is to ask why. As mentioned before, Ibsen purposefully did not provide just one reason for Hedda’s actions, rather he planted many seeds so that nobody can really be sure, opening the door for riveting conversations.

The Artistic Home’s production of ‘Hedda Gabler’ is a good reminder of why classics should be seen every so often. Though the modernized script takes some interesting liberties, and can become a bit meandering in parts, overall Ibsen’s points are well preserved. However, it’s fairly unlikely that high society folks would speak in expletives the way they are in O’Rowe’s script. Still, this production is faithful in its interpretation of the limits of courage. In the end, despite Ibsen’s Easter eggs, this is a play about one woman’s courage to go against the grain of society.

Through March 23 at The Artistic Home at The Den. 1331 N Milwaukee Ave. 773-697-3830