ARTS DIARY: City actress one of the great Heddas; Peter Grant on a great performance of Ibsen's classic.Byline: Peter Grant THE moment Gillian Kearney glides on stage as anti-heroine Hedda Gabler you know that Ibsen's ghostly characters will stay with you from sweet start to bitter end. This joint production from Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and West Yorkshire Playhouse The West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, United Kingdom is a theatre which opened in March 1990 as part of the regeneration of the Quarry Hill area of the city. According to the West Yorkshire Playhouse website it has established a reputation both nationally and internationally as bodes well for future creative Capital of Culture collaborations. Ibsen's play from 1891 still works and adapts well in 2006. A fine seven-strong ensemble cast relishes that challenge. Director Matthew Lloyd keeps the pace nice and slow at first leading to the emotionally volcanic end of a tempestuous tem·pes·tu·ous adj. 1. Of, relating to, or resembling a tempest: tempestuous gales. 2. Tumultuous; stormy: a tempestuous relationship. tale in this two-hour production. Designer Ruari Murchison's set is a Norwegian living room you would die for, possibly from boredom. All the claustrophobia claustrophobia /claus·tro·pho·bia/ (-fo´be-ah) irrational fear of being shut in, of closed places. claus·tro·pho·bi·a n. An abnormal fear of being in narrow or enclosed spaces. that it exudes is faultless fault·less adj. Being without fault. See Synonyms at perfect. fault  less·ly adv. , just like the
performances from the slick crew.
Gillian Kearney is outstanding. She takes on Hedda in her own unique "ice maiden" way. Gillian, one of the finest actresses this city has ever produced, has grown on stage in total maturity, The Aigburth girl has been in Brookside, King Lear, numerous TV series and yet she can give such stunning depth and clarity to a role like Hedda. It is the key part and whether audiences liked or hated Hedda, Ibsen himself said that if he had been a woman he would have been her. I am sure that Hedda would have been Ibsen if she had the chance. That's the great ambiguity of this work. There are more questions than answers. To tell the story of love-gone-wrong' love-caught-in the middle and love ultimately lost, would give the game away and Ibsen wanted theatregoers to work it out for themselves. Suffice to say, this is Ibsen's written work about middle-class values dominating all his characters. His hatred of snobbish snob·bish adj. Of, befitting, or resembling a snob; pretentious. snob bish·ly adv. behaviour is acidic.
Now, in 2006, this surprisingly timeless drama is magically relevant One of the most accessible pieces of drama you will see in a long, long time. She has grown on stage in total maturity CAPTION(S): Liverpool actress Gillian Kearney in her role as Hedda Gabler |
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