BEAUTIFUL, BORED, AND BENT ON DESTRUCTION
For a taut psychological drama fraught with sexual tension, Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler remains unrivaled, and Parker Jennings delivers a mesmerizing performance as the title character—a woman simmering with rage beneath a veneer of poise, trapped in a world that offers her no escape. With astute director Danielle Fauteux Jacques wisely choosing a public domain translation of the original Norwegian, Apollinaire Theatre’s production strips the play of excess, using a streamlined, intermission-free 105-minute run to ratchet up the suspense with unrelenting intensity.
Parker Jennings and Joshua Lee Robinson
Parker Jennings and Kimberly Blaise MacCormack
Newly married but suffocating in domesticity, Hedda is accustomed to wielding her beauty and cunning as weapons, particularly against men. But when she discovers that her former lover, Eilert Løvborg, has been rehabilitated—not through her influence, but through the quiet strength of Thea (Kimberly Blaise MacCormack, radiating intelligence and warmth)—her resentment boils over. Joshua Lee Robinson brings a dignified restraint to Løvborg, though a touch more visible angst might have further justified Hedda’s obsessive misery. But the real game of power takes shape with Judge Brack, played with a deliciously sinister edge by Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia. When the judge tightens his grip, Hedda’s agency crumbles, hurtling her toward an inevitable and devastating conclusion.
Cristhian Mancinas-García, Joshua Lee Robinson and Conall Sahler
Paola Ferrer and Conall Sahler
Yet Ibsen’s world does not collapse entirely into nihilism. In a stark contrast to Hedda’s ruin, Ibsen subtly restores moral order, ensuring a brighter future for the earnest but oblivious George Tesman (Conall Sahler) and the steadfast Thea, whose resilience proves the true counterweight to Hedda’s self-destruction.
Cristhian Mancinas-García, Joshua Lee Robinson, and Ann Carpenter
Parker Jennings
Joseph Lark-Riley’s meticulously crafted Victorian set—complete with intricately turned banisters and staircases—grounds the production in period authenticity, while his restrained use of sound heightens the oppressive intimacy of Chelsea Theatre Works’ space. In the end, this Hedda Gabler is both thrilling and chilling, a testament to Apollinaire Theatre’s ability to breathe fresh urgency into a timeless classic.
photos by Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Hedda Gabler
Apollinaire Theatre Company
Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St in Chelsea, MA
105-minutes, no intermission
Fri and Sat at 8; Sun at 3
ends on March 16, 2025
for tickets ($15-$30), call 617.887.2336 or visit Apollinaire
for more shows, visit Theatre in Boston
