Name: Review: Hedda
Item: Orange Tree Theatre
Author: Amanda Hodges

It’s 1948 and acclaimed film star Hedda Gabler is newly retired and recently married to rising British film director George Tesman. But ensconced in a fashionable mews house in Chelsea Hedda is harbouring a potentially explosive secret that could destroy her ostensibly gilded life forever.

BOOK NOW

OUR VERDICT

★★★

Helen Murray Photography

HEDDA, inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s HEDDA GABLER in a new adaption by Tanika Gupta; Production ; Cast: Joe Bannister, Bebe Cave, Pearl Chanda, Rina Fatania, Caroline Harker, Jake Mann, Milo Twomey ; Director: Hettie Macdonald ; Assistant Director: Tara Jamora Oppen ; Casting Director: Helena Palmer CDG ; Set Designer: Simon Kenny ; Costume Designer: Sheena Napier ; Lighting Designer: Ben Ormerod ; Sound Designer & Composer: Pouya Ehsaei ; Fight Director: RC Annie ; Costume Supervisor: Cieranne Kennedy-Bell ; Production Manager: Sean Laing ; Deputy Stage Manager: Thomas Manly ; Assistant Stage Manager: Irene Saviozzi ; Orange Tree Theatre ; 18 October 2025 ; Credit and copyright: Helen Murray ; www.helenmurrayphotos.com

Ibsen’s classic play is now boldly reimagined in Tanika Gupta’s inventive new adaptation, directed by Hettie Macdonald and now set in Forties London rather than the original Norway of the 1890s.

The play’s premise is intriguing, and the era chosen for its update is perfect, as the shadow of Empire collapse and Indian Independence hangs over the drama, illuminating the dichotomy at its heart as Hedda, desperate to be seen for her true self, knows she can only pass muster if she presents what the world wishes to see.

An actress of mixed heritage, she has to conceal the truth of her identity in order to conform to Society’s narrow expectations, something that stultifies such a free spirit. Merle Oberon, a star of Asian descent whose life story informs the play, once poignantly said, ‘ I spent my career being looked at, never seen.’

Helen Murray Photography

The Hays Code was then in full force in Hollywood, ostensibly providing a moral framework for the film industry, but really ensuring racial stereotypes were perpetuated, too. Hedda’s opinionated maid, Shona, is really her mother; the truth of their relationship is kept securely under wraps.

Simon Kenny’s pristine white set conjures affluent screen glamour, but its all-enveloping whiteness surely reflects another rather darker reality of life in Forties Hollywood too.

Around the stylish but acerbic Hedda (Pearl Chanda) circle a variety of men, all dazzled by her: reliable husband George, alcoholic writer Leonard and lecherous producer John. It’s all beautifully staged; what distanced me emotionally from this production was that it was hard to care about the fate of such a self-centred group of individuals, each vying for glory and consumed by ambition.

At times, all seemed too arch, so that although the more modern update is wholly engaging, the characters were unfortunately not and as such, forfeited much sympathy.

Rating: 3 of 5