In Over Their 'Hedda'

Washington Shakespeare Can't Get at the Heart of Ibsen's Play

S tretching its audiences and its actors is what scrappy Washington Shakespeare Company invariably has in mind as it takes on one big, tough work after another. In some cases, such as with a recent "Caligula," the choices confirm that pinpoint casting and economical stagecraft can get a troupe of few resources rewardingly through the thorniest of texts. But the company's current presentation, Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler," bears witness to the limits of this approach.

Although director Christopher Henley attempts to propel spectators at Clark Street Playhouse through this 1891 staple about a woman suffocating in an ill-conceived marriage to an academic drip, the staging never develops the emotional suppleness to authenticate the plights of Ibsen's characters.

Henley works here from a recent adaptation by Andrew Upton that seeks to heighten the drama's tension and torpor. Pauses are played up at key moments in the dialogue, during which the lighting dims and the soft murmur from a keyboard can be discerned. The interruptions on this occasion, however, manifest themselves only as limp hiccups in the languid activities in the household of Jorgen Tesman (Daniel Eichner) and his disillusioned spouse, Hedda (Heather Haney).

To make anything meaningful of "Hedda Gabler," an audience needs some urgent sense of what is pushing Hedda to the edge, why she resorts to such extreme acts and ultimately destroys everything. It requires the triangle of Tesman, Hedda and her lover, Lovborg (Adam Jonas Segaller), to stir up some strong undercurrents of attraction, repulsion, resentment. None of that happens. An audience is left with the sensation of sitting less through an act than a reenactment.

One wonders whether these actors might, with more seasoning, be able to return to this work and complete their assignments more insightfully. None is without technical skill. It seems that for this troupe at this time, this play is just too much of a stretch.

Hedda Gabler, by Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Andrew Upton. Directed by Christopher Henley. Set, William Fisher; costumes, Brandon R. McWilliams; lighting, Marianne Meadows; sound, David Crandall. With Kathleen Akerley, Caitlin Smith, Frank Britton, Martha Karl. About 2 hours 15 minutes. Through March 9 at Clark Street Playhouse, 601 S. Clark St., Arlington. Call 800-494-TIXS or visit http://www.washingtonshakespeare.org.