Hedda Tesman E-Book

Cordelia Lynn

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

'There's no such thing as starting again.' A doting husband. A troubled writer. A loaded gun. It's 2019 and Hedda Tesman returns to a life she can't seem to escape from. After thirty years of playing wife, Hedda is bitter and bored. When her estranged daughter, Thea, suddenly reappears asking for help, the present begins to echo the past and Hedda embarks on a path of destruction. Hedda Tesman, by Cordelia Lynn, breathes new life into Henrik Ibsen's classic, asking what we inherit, what we endure and how we carry our history. A vital exploration of motherhood, power and sabotage, the play was produced by Headlong and premiered at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2019, before transferring to The Lowry, Salford.

Leseprobe

Cordelia Lynn

HEDDA

TESMAN

After Henrik Ibsen

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Original Production

Hauntings: Author’s Note

Characters

Hedda Tesman

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Hedda Tesman was first produced by Chichester Festival Theatre, Headlong and The Lowry, and first performed at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, on 30 August 2019. The cast was as follows:

HEDDA TESMAN

Haydn Gwynne

GEORGE TESMAN

Anthony Calf

BERTHA

Rebecca Oldfield

JULIE TESMAN

Jacqueline Clark

THEA TESMAN

Natalie Simpson

BRACK

Jonathan Hyde

ELIJAH

Irfan Shamji

PIANISTS

Catriona Beveridge

Jennifer Whyte

Director

Holly Race Roughan

Designer

Anna Fleischle

Lighting Designer

Zoe Spurr

Music

Ruth Chan

Sound Designer

George Dennis

Casting Director

Charlotte Sutton

Hauntings: Author’s Note

Hedda Tesman is a modern adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, from a literal translation by Anne-Marie Stanton-Ife. The idea was to create a piece of new writing held within Ibsen’s original play. Careful attention was paid to his structure, story, form, tone and symbolism. As a way of addressing developments in socio-political conditions for women since 1891, the ages and relationships of some of the characters have been changed.

An adaptation is a haunted thing. Hedda Tesman is perhaps more haunted than some. I think this is why the house in the play became a haunted house, lived in by a haunted woman. The past always surfaces, like a ghost.

I am thankful to Holly Race Roughan, without whom Hedda Tesman would and could not have been written.

C.L.

Characters

HEDDA TESMAN, born Gabler, early sixties

GEORGE TESMAN, Hedda’s husband, a historian, early sixties

BERTHA, a cleaner, mid-thirties

JULIE TESMAN, George’s aunt, mid-eighties

THEA TESMAN, Hedda and George’s daughter, late twenties

BRACK, Hedda and George’s friend, mid-sixties

ELIJAH, former student of George’s, early thirties

Scene

An isolated house, outside a university town.

Today, now.

Notes

The House indicates The House making itself known.

A forward slash (/) indicates an external interruption.

A dash (–) indicates an internal interruption.

An ellipsis (…) indicates a tailing-off.

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.