LUDS’ Hedda Gabler: Review

Last night saw LUDS’ opening performance of Henrik Ibsen’s classic Hedda Gabler, in a version by Patrick Marber. A seamless opening show on behalf of both cast and crew, this amateur production achieves professional standards, thanks to a unique vision, deep engagement with the text and attention to detail, resulting in a performance that felt effortlessly polished. Full of wit, sprinkles of dark humour and tense psychological intrigue, the play offers stellar performances and an enjoyable experience, while never losing sight of the sincerity of its themes.

First performed in 1891 and since translated and staged countless times across the world, Hedda Gabler remains unsettlingly relevant and accessible to contemporary audiences. Returning from her honeymoon with new husband George Tesman, the play’s central character Hedda (née Gabler) is met with the prospect of a life devoid of excitement. Trapped within the confines of marriage, social expectation and self-destructive impulses, unexpected arrivals from her past further complicate Hedda’s world as she seeks to confront her future and fulfil her desires by manipulating those around her.

The cohesion and communication between the cast and the creative team really shines through, with every element working in quiet conversation with the others. Each characterisation and directorial choice feels deliberate and meaningful, finely tuned to build tension and an emotionally charged atmosphere right up to the play’s climactic scenes. A revolutionarily complex and dangerous female character, Molly Denson’s Hedda wonderfully captures the intricate mesh of dry wit, heartbreak and ambition that the role demands. This being her 32nd show with LUDS, Denson clearly knows the character inside out, commanding the stage with emotional dexterity and nuance that gives Hedda a distinctly human quality and a resonant female rage. Displaying compelling chemistry with her fellow actors, Denson handles the responsibility of the role masterfully, drawing out the layers of Hedda’s relationships and the forces acting upon and within her.

As an ensemble, it was clear that each performer truly enjoys every part of the process, fully inhabiting their unique roles and enriching the play with a colourful range of psyches, motivations and moral compasses. I found that each cast member brought to life a different aspect of Hedda’s constraints and desires: Tesman (Jake Russon) as an embodiment of safety and social respectability (the thing she fears most); Lovborg (Calum Freeman) as her source of passion, impulsivity and a fascination with danger; and in Judge Brack (Alex Hemley), the need for control and true understanding. Katie Holmes’ shining LUDS debut as Thea Elvsted, alongside Libby Thompson’s Aunt Juliana and Silvia Ismaili’s Berte, each deliver tender, dynamic and heartbreaking foils to Denson’s complex, volatile and ever-shifting Hedda.

The production design was especially impressive, with the audience enveloping the stage in a way that allows them the ultimate immersive experience, able to witness every angle, emotion and nuance of each performance. Just as Hedda herself rarely leaves the room, we as the audience become quietly privy to, and entangled in, the unfolding events of the play. Beautifully period accurate use of props and set pieces are meticulously staged, so as to compliment the costumes and ground the production within Ibsen’s time. Furthermore, music, sound and lighting, presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. On behalf of Samuel French Ltd., including an eerie piano performance from Denson, work together wonderfully to subtly bring us into the world as Hedda descends into madness. From fake blood to thrilling gun sequences, LUDS‘ Hedda Gabler presents a timeless exploration of love, power and human nature when stretched to its limits.

LUDS has done it again! Congratulations to the team:

Director – Molly Thirlwall

Assistant Director – Hannah Lee

Producer – Emily Mohammed

Stage Manager – Amelia Neira – Johnston

Composer/ Sound Design – Jakob Beecham

Lighting/ Live Sound Design – Joshua Daborn Mann

Costume Design – Kate Harris

Shadow – Anya Hadley Davis

Marketing – Alice Smith

This production is raising money for RASA Merseyside, an organisation that provides support and counselling to those impacted by sexual violence; a cause well suited to the play’s themes of female powerlessness and lack of agency within a male dominated society.

You can purchase tickets for Night Three here: https://www.liverpoolguild.org/ents/event/6270/

Trigger Warnings to note: Suicide, Guns, ⁠Misogyny, ⁠Alcoholism, Power and Control, Abortion.