Shooting Hedda Gabler at Sydney’s Seymour Centre is one classy looking production, with an impressive cast to match.
Based on Ibsen’s now classic 1891 Hedda Gabler, it reframes much of the original play as a film shoot, with characters based directly or loosely on the originals.
Hedda, played brilliantly by Jennifer Rani, is now an ex US screen actress who has come to Norway to capture a new sense of credibility under the direction of the very believable Norwegian director du jour, Henrik (James Smithers).
We are introduced to the set and dressing rooms by the busy first assistant director Berta (Jane Angharad), and we sense right away that it is not always a rosy place to be.
Henrik’s idea of shooting reality is to push the boundaries of performance, with the cameras rolling continually as the actors are made to re-examine their concepts of reality in acting.
It’s as if Henrik has taken a master class out of Ingmar Bergman’s playbook, a Swedish film director who was famous for breaking actors on and off the set.
As the filming progresses, we are introduced to others in Henrik’s world that include Lib Campbell, who plays an on-set therapist, a pushy actress and a fumbling intimacy coordinator, along with Matthew Abotomey’s Jorgen, played with an arc that swings from the sweet sycophant to the ‘get out of my way’ opportunist.
And then later in the play, Ejlert (Alpha Sylla) as Hedda’s ex and possible now, appears as a complication to the casting, while also throwing a few spanners into the works.
What transpires is an examination of power and its imbalances, particularly those from the male gaze, but do not go looking for any answers here as the script (Nina Segal) relies on a well-trodden route without much in the way of introspection, or originality past the flip in time from a classic text.
Director Monica Sayers has done a superb job keeping the cast connected and the business of a live set believable. The set (James Smithers, who, besides playing Henrik, also helped build the set, along with Max Shaw and Nick McGory) is one of the most ambitious and best looking that has ever graced the Reginald stage.
Making up the back wall are two dressing rooms with their interiors visible to the audience. They are flanked by makeup stations either side of the stage, with one side doubling as a production centre with a live camera and a preview screen, connecting to two large screens above the stage.
Drinks are displayed on both sides of the stage and are readily offered or sort. In the centre of the stage is a large well into which the actors step to converse or perform and becomes the bear pit for Hedda as she shreds herself in search of the character she is playing. All of this sits above the collection of staging and lighting gear necessary for the production.
Costumes from Charlotte Savva are very North Face and local, with Hedda’s standing out as being out of place with her touch of Rodeo Drive casual. Travis Kecek’s lightning design adds to the reality of a film set and works well illuminating the dressing rooms as per the mood dictated by the script, while composer Anthony McDermott lends greatly to the atmosphere.
Credit also goes to dialogue coach Patrick Klavins for keeping the actors within the bounds of believability. This is a well drawn production, with the script being the only drawback in that it is too obvious and does not seem to have a purpose other that to ride of the coat tails of a classic. It could have gone deeper.
This production of Shooting Hedda Gabler by Secret House is testament to a small company and the talent that it can bring to the stage, and marks them as a production company worthy of close attention.
Shooting Hedda Gabler
Reginald Theatre – Seymour Centre, Corner City Road and Cleveland Street, Chippendale (Sydney)
Performance: Saturday 13 June 2026
Season continues to 27 June 2026
Information and Bookings: www.seymourcentre.com
Images: Shooting Hedda Gabler – photos by Phil Erbacher
Review: John Moyle