Shooting Hedda Gabler may have a predictable ending but it is incisive in how it frames the patriarchy as simply changing techniques to control and subjugate.”
Kate Stratford
4 stars
Venue: Seymour Centre (presented by Secret House)
Sydney
Dates: Until 27th June 2026
Secret House artistic director Jane Angharad has a knack for unearthing terrific scripts which other Sydney companies miss. The latest offering is Shooting Hedda Gabler and as the title suggests, is a multilayered piece referring not only to the tragic fate of characters in Ibsen’s original but also its 21st century remake as a film. Art imitates life imitates art imitates life in this looping Nordic noir meta narrative by Nina Segal.
For the odd thing is, this is often a funny play. Despite the serious themes -and there are many – the dialogue is littered with amusing bon mots, which all the cast deliver with great timing – especially Lib Campbell as the multi functioning Thea/ Therapist / Intimacy coordinator. Even as the tension ramps up in the second half, the humour is still evident.
So broadly, in Norway, a film crew is shooting a movie adaptation of Hedda Gabler. A troubled former American child star (Jennifer Rani) is seeking professional and personal redemption by playing Hedda. Rani’s presence is powerful, her carefully curated descent is tragic. Dogging her every move is the auteur director Henrik (the multi- talented James Smithers), relentlessly pushing the cast deep into discomfort, until the lines between reality and fiction become blurred. “I don’t believe you,” Henrik repeatedly tells Hedda. Acting is not enough for him. It needs to feel real. He films every moment and refuses to have a script, instead instigating dangerous power games where the outcome is predictable. His presence is sinister and quite misogynistic.
Hedda’s mistreatment by her director clearly has its roots in the #MeToo movement. It is a clever updating of coercive control. The Hedda of the 19th Century was trapped and stripped of power by her financial dependency on men. Now it is emotional blackmail, physical intimidation and gaslighting which traps and enslaves. Other issues are evident. Gun safety on set (referencing Alec Baldwin and the fatal shooting of his colleague, Halyna Hutchins, in 2021}; the influence of social opinion (oddly gossip magazines are used instead of social media); the lack of respect for those attempting to remain sober and even the nature of motherhood.
All this plays out on James Smithers’ stark, cold set stripped of any warmth or comfort. The mechanics of film making are evident. The coldness of Norway lurks just outside but none of the beauty. The film set is an inhospitable place. Similarly, Travis Kecek’s lighting is comfortless. This is not a place for redemption or support.
Hedda Gabler is one of the most performed plays in the world. A few of this cast were recently in a version at the KXT (Theatre Now Review: Hedda Gabler – theatrenow.com.au). If you don’t know how it ends, get a copy and read it (as the “Americans film actors” in the cast have to do). Shooting Hedda Gabler may have a predictable ending but it is incisive in how it frames the patriarchy as simply changing techniques to control and subjugate. There could be no other ending than the one we careen towards.
Darkly nuanced and unsettling.
Photos by Phil Erbacher
Kate Stratford, Theatre Now
