Hedda Gabler - NT / UK tour.

I attended the first preview of 'Hedda Gabler' and while I was happy enough with the evening I cannot say that I was stirred by what I had seen or heard. It is a beautifully designed production as regards minimalist decor, the changing lighting and soundtrack, but what is being acted out by characters is also uninvolving, often rather quiet and contributes to a kind of bright, white antiseptic production. I didn't care about any character in this production, I wasn't waiting keenly to discover what they'd see, do or what would happen to them next. 

Kate Duchene as Juliana, the aunt, appeared early; her presence was well-defined and she was easy to hear, which had me thinking that what was to follow generally was going to be similar. Seated in mid-stalls, I could just about hear some of the quiet characters but sometimes missed parts of the dialogue, so I hope that audience members further back and above in the circle were able to follow what was going on. Best of the others were Rafe Spall and Chukwudi Iwuji and whenever they appeared storyline developments became clearer. Though I agree with others above for whom what was done to a manuscript seemed no more than a bit of passing punctuation, while later a scene featuring dripping blood was about as interesting as watching some piece of Turner Prize performance-art.

We had restricted-view seats but that sounds far worse than the rather good view actually was on the night. It would have helped a little if on looking at stage-right the sofa was turned a little so that in a few scenes two or three characters weren't lined up sideways-on to the audience in such a way that it reduced the impact such characters might have had on the audience. Where a first half scene-change could be accompanied by the so aptly chosen Joni Mitchell song 'Blue', melancholic and exquisite, after the interval the play seemed to drift a bit before coming back to life. Though the performance ended at 10.05pm, at least five minutes earlier than the projected 2 hrs 40 mins including twenty minute interval, at least 5-10 more minutes could have been cut from that flagging second 'half'. Allow for it being the first preview, so once into its run it'll all get better, no doubt.

Yes, it is being staged in the Lyttelton.

Well, um, it's not really blood. I suppose whether you'll faint or not depends on what your tolerance level for stage blood-like stuff is really. I don't know how to describe it without giving it away but it's all done in a very stylised way. It's not like she stabs herself and there's loads of blood dripping everywhere. When you see it, it's very clear where the red stuff comes from so even though it looks a bit like blood you know full well that it isn't. It's a bit like watching someone put on a costume or a wig.

I have to agree with some of the comments above, I found it very difficult to care for any one of the characters on stage.  Of course the writing doesn't give you likable characters to begin with, but I felt the direction and some of the acting choices didn't help much either - at times it got slightly self-indulgent. 

As a technical aside, I was sitting close enough to the stage to see that all the actors in the cast are actually miked.  The lav mics are extremely well hidden, but the wires are there, so at least the sound issues should be soon overcome.  Bit sad that they need microphones at all, but hey... whatever makes their life easier. 

Thanks Ryan, that is reassuring, stylised I think i can do. 

I vividly remember the blood effect at the recent Old Vic production.

Saw this tonight. Loved it. Just...loved it. I don't think I have the words to explain why...

There's been a lot of very positive comment on twitter. I'm seeing it (and a handful of other shows to round off the year) the week after next.

Oh no of course and if a play going to be bloody the end suits me best and a non bloody end would lesson the impact for this play, it was more that I feared we'd got some extra bloodbath scenes else where in the play from what I'd read but I might have misunderstood that. 

thanks, concerns averted

People rarely say negative things about theatre shows on Twitter. Why is this? Is it because it's mostly public domain? I'm genuinely intrigued.

I'd guess you don't have the right friends, I follow a wide circle of theatre fans and very few of us are civilised enough to hold back when we hate something. Though if you're interested, one of my friends very purposefully avoids commenting on a show she has hated because she knows it would be so easy for her comments to get to the cast and crew. So maybe some people fear confrontation, or maybe - as in the case of my friend - they realise that there is a real person on the other end of the Twitter account and thus don't say anything they wouldn't say to someone's face. Aaaaand I suppose for some people the realisation that the cast and crew could very easily find their tweet leads to their seeking approval from the cast and crew by loudly tweeting their approval first. (Also if you follow theatres and haven't muted their retweets, then you're going to get nothing but a neverending stream of "I SAW THIS PLAY AND IT WAS TERRIFIC BEST THING ALL YEAR OMG", especially the day after press night. That'll tip the balance like nobody's business.)