A thought-provoking 19th century work by a noted writer gets an onstage retelling at Indiana University Northwest in Gary.
Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” is set for performances Nov. 5-14.
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“I would put it in the category of a psychological drama,” Mark Baer, director of the play, said in a recent phone interview.
The production at Theatre Northwest on Grant tells the story of Hedda, who is the attractive daughter of the late Gen. Gabler, a military officer.
Bristly in nature, Hedda finds herself confronting “the boredom of married life” after returning from her honeymoon, according to promotional material from the university.
Hedda is often described in literary analysis as a trophy wife.
“She rejects the traditional roles that women are assumed to hold in our society,” Baer said. “She’s trapped with kind of no options, as she sees it.”
Hedda is being portrayed by 23-year-old Amanda Tomczak, a senior at Indiana University Northwest who is majoring in theater.
“There’s so many layers to her,” Tomczak said of her character. “I think she’s more advanced than the society she’s in. I think she doesn’t conform to society. She really is, a lot of times, boxed into being a beautiful woman. She kind of gets looked at as a prize. She’s partially a victim of her circumstance. I think she’s emotionally very repressed. I think she’s an extremely intelligent woman.”
Presented by the Theatre Northwest troupe, “Hedda Gabler” is billed as a “taut psychological thriller” in a press release from the school.
“It takes place in Norway in 1890,” noted Baer, an assistant professor of acting and directing at Indiana University Northwest.
Baer said that at the outset, audiences are likely to view Hedda as a “mean” woman, but as the drama unfolds, so does insight into the protagonist’s behavior.
“Over the course of the play we kind of unpeel the layers of her situation — of her view of the world,” Baer said. “We see why she is the way she is.”
Baer categorizes Ibsen as a Norwegian playwright with a “feminist” bent. Ibsen appears to have given the Hedda Gabler character a grating and unlikable personality, but Tomczak sees it differently.
“I personally don’t think she is a bad person; she’s a very hurt person,” Tomczak, a Griffith resident, said. “I personally don’t hate Hedda. A lot of her tendencies are very masculine. She adopted a lot of those growing up.”
The actress believes Hedda basically a became a victim “of not being able to break out of society.” Tomczak’s lead role serves up the task of giving life to the complex, manipulative Hedda.
“I think the biggest challenge is following her motivation,” Tomczak said. “It’s by far the hardest role I’ve every played.”
A synopsis of the play provided by Indiana University Northwest states that when an old flame re-emerges and “threatens both her husband’s career prospects and her own self-image, Hedda contrives to bring about his destruction,” but in the process, damages herself.
Besides Tomczak in the lead role, “Hedda Gabler” also features a cast of IUN students that includes Joshua Kime (Griffith) as George Tesman, Brandon Hearne (Gary) as Judge Brack, Stephanie Botta (LaPorte) as Julia Tesman, Tina Grace (LaPorte) as Thea Elvstead, Peaches Chunn (Portage) as Berta, and Chris Daniels (Dyer) as Eilert Lovborg.
The period costume design is by Stephanie Naumoff, of Valparaiso, according to the university.
Over the decades, various famous actresses have portrayed Hedda Gabler, including Ingrid Bergman and Glenda Jackson.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
“Hedda Gabler”
Where: Theatre Northwest on Grant, 3660 Grant St., Gary
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When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5-7, and Nov. 12-14; 2:30 p.m. Nov. 8
Tickets: $10
Information: 219-980-6808 or www.iun.edu/theatre