Hedda Gabler Opens October 8th at San Pedro's Little Fish Theatre
Hedda Gabler has fascinated audiences and actresses since her sensational debut in 1891. Part victim, part victimizer, Hedda is considered one of the great dramatic roles - the female "Hamlet." Many critics of the day were horrified by Hedda, calling her a monster, a perversion, a degenerate. But others saw in her a woman struggling for recognition and equality at a time when women were demanding rights. Subsequently, Hedda has been the poster child for many theories: Freudian repression, the narrowness of the bourgeois life, female emancipation, and the bad seed.
One of the most controversial playwrights of the nineteenth century, Henrik Ibsen is often called "the father of modern theatre." His plays introduced characters that were human, fallible, and complicated, prompting directors and actors to find new ways of staging and interpreting plays. The traditional declamatory style of acting was upended by the natural dialogue and complex motivations that characterize his plays and earned him his own school of theatre: Ibsenism. About Hedda Gabler, Ibsen said, "...it was not my desire to deal in this play with so-called problems. What I principally wanted to do was to depict human beings, human emotions, and human destinies...." Hedda Gabler has lost none of its modernity; the characters are completely recognizable, and their destinies continue to explore the mysteries of the human character.
Little Fish Theatre's production stars local luminary Suzanne Dean as Hedda Gabler, understudied by Kalie Quinones. Directed by LFT Artistic Director Melanie Jones, the cast features several exciting talents new to the Little Fish stage: Jocelyn Towne as Thea Elvsted, Frederick Ponzlov as Judge Brack, Casey Sullivan as Eilert Lovborg, and Tom Colitt as George Tesman.
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen; directed by Melanie Jones
Featuring: Tom Colitt, Suzanne Dean*, Mary-Margaret Lewis*, Kalie Quinones, Frederick Ponzlov*, Linda Steelman*, Casey Sullivan* and Jocelyn Towne*. *member Actors' Equity Association
When: October 8th through November 13th.
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sunday, 11/7 at 7 pm; Thursday, 11/11 at 8 pm.
Talkback with the cast after the performance, Sunday, 11/7.
Location: Little Fish Theatre, 777 Centre St. (at 8th St.), San Pedro, CA 90731
Entrance and parking behind the theatre; access through alley between 7th & 8th Sts.
Tickets: $25 ($22 students/seniors)
Reservations: 310-512-6030 or visit our website www.littlefishtheatre.org
Little Fish Theatre is an Equity Waiver theatre in its 9th season located in downtown San Pedro, only minutes from numerous fine restaurants. LFT is the contemporary wing of Shakespeare by the Sea.