JOIN USInside a trapped mind
Talk about wrong choices and Ibsen’s Hedda is neckdeep in them. But complex characters are Henrik Ibsen’s forte and Hedda Gabler clearly holds a mirror to the contemporary women. Actress Sheeba Chadha did live this iconic character to the fullest when Hedda Gabler was premiered at Ranga Shankara last week.
A Just Theatre Production, the play was not without its shock value and doses of humourous retorts, hinting at the tragedy of a woman bored with life.
The general’s daughter, who married the wrong man, living not the life she wanted, and finally putting a gun to it. Chadha shone as a woman caught between her expectations and her disappointment.
Her saying, “I think I have a natural talent for boring myself to death” is poignant. But the fact is the play did not have a moment of boredom.
Lending ample support was the rest of the cast — Neeraj Kabi, Denzil Smith, Samar Sarila, Tillotama Shome, Shipra Singh and Veera Abadan.
Interestingly, it’s hard to miss the power play between these characters when they come face to face.
Also hard to miss is the struggle between Hedda’s desire for freedom and her conformist attitudes.
Hedda Gabler is essentially a look at the Victorian society. And clearly, the play reveals how the people in Hedda’s life never really understood her stream of thoughts.
What linked her to her past was her guns, the only real possession of hers. Her angst is all so vivid when she says, “I want to have the power to shape a human being’s destiny.”
Neeraj Kabi as Tesman, the dull academic and Hedda’s admiring husband and Denzil Smith as the manipulative judge Brack, cloaked in duplicity, were a pleasure to watch.
As Hedda’s antithesis comes Thea, skillfully enacted by Tillotama Shome. Samar Sarila as Eilert Lovborg, the old admirer of Hedda’s, effectively portrayed his unreliable nature.
The sound design was sensitive and the costumes in sync with the characters.
The play was presented by Gomber Education Foundation.
DHNS