The clench of a gun feels genuinely dangerous in Nina Segal’s sharp, twisting story of coercive control and the slippery business of pretending for a living – a co-production between the Rose theatre and the Norwegian Ibsen Company. Knowledge of Ibsen’s original may add extra layers to this clever play but it isn’t required in the slightest to enjoy the aching tension and delicious absurdity of Jeff James’s immensely confident production.
In Norway, a film crew is shooting a movie adaptation of Hedda Gabbler. Antonia Thomas is wonderfully believable as a messed-up former child star escaping her life to play Hedda. Lurking close by is demanding auteur director Henrik (a brilliantly creepy Christian Rubeck). Ever watchful, Henrik pushes the cast deep into discomfort, until the lines between their real lives and their characters’ are blurred, and the play asks how much a performance should demand of a person. “I don’t believe you,” Henrik tells Hedda. Acting is not enough for him. It needs to feel real.
