The University of California, San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance currently presents Henrik Ibsen\u2019s “Hedda Gabler” as a showcase for student directors, designers and actors in its acclaimed, three-year master of fine arts program. After 130 years since its conception, the play remains enigmatic. Its two female protagonists, Hedda Gabler and Mrs. Elvsted, respectively played by Zo\u00eb Chao and Sara Garcia, represent the evolving status of women in society, making it even more poignant that the two literary types they are involved with, George Tesman (Kyle Anderson) and Eilert Lovborg (Hugo Medina) are rivals in the academic field of history. When the play opens, Hedda and George have returned from an extended honeymoon abroad and are attempting to adjust to married life in the fishbowl townhouse provided by Tesman\u2019s Aunt Julia (Ngozi Anyanwu), who is concerned for her nephew, his bride and their marriage. Tesman is nerdy and distracted; and the beauteous and vain Hedda is bored, resentful and already not in love with him, if she ever was. Two other men are interested in Hedda. First is the couple\u2019s old friend, the well-connected Judge Brack (Scott W. Patteson), who lusts after Hedda deliciously and suggests a triangle might ease her loneliness. The other is Hedda\u2019s former intimate, the intensely romantic Eilert Lovborg (Hugo Medina), whom she long ago banished at pistol point. Lovborg, an alcoholic who\u2019s been rehabilitated by their longtime friend, Mrs. Elvsted (Sara Garcia), is Tesman\u2019s academic rival. With Mrs. Elvsted\u2019s assistance, Lovborg has written a highly successful book and has the manuscript for an even more brilliant second, the publication of which will make it impossible for Tesman to succeed in their mutual field, sociological history. The conflicted Hedda sets about retribution. Her motives are subject to debate. In the end she destroys lives, including her own. MFA director Anthony Luciano, utilizing Rolf G. Fjelde\u2019s translation, seems bent upon banishing the Nordic darkness and the oppressive patriarchy of the period and along with them Hedda\u2019s numerous and possible motivations. Maybe the babe is just pure-D nuts. Luciano indulges his directorial vision principally through the design team. Kathryn Lieber creates a lofty and airy scenic framework, extending upwards from the playing platform, festooned with white sheer drapes. After the first act, a separate scenic island accommodates Hedda\u2019s retreat, where she keeps the piano that doesn\u2019t fit into the d\u00e9cor of the townhouse provided by Tesman\u2019s aunt. This island and the presence of an enormous goldfish tank at stage left may indicate Hedda\u2019s feeling of constriction. When one adds Alina Bokovikova\u2019s lovely costumes, especially for Chao, Wen-Ling\u2019s lighting and Omar Ramos\u2019 sound design, the sum is a spectacular, transparent physical production; all the rest, still rife with questions, as “Hedda” has been all these years. “Hedda Gabler” continues at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 24 \u2013 26,<\/b> at the Mandell Weiss Forum of UCSD\u2019s La Jolla Playhouse. Tickets are $20, and discounts are available for affiliates, seniors and students. Information is available at http:\/\/theatre.ucsd.edu or (858) 534-4574.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The University of California, San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance currently presents Henrik Ibsen\u2019s “Hedda Gabler” as a showcase for student directors, designers and actors in its acclaimed, three-year master of fine arts program. After 130 years since its conception, the play remains enigmatic. Its two female protagonists, Hedda Gabler and Mrs. Elvsted, respectively […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":266954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"UCSD offers a spectacular \u2018Hedda\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11560],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-la-jolla-village-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}