Hedda Gabler sizzles on stage at Big Idea Theatre
If you like your classics with sharp edges, psychological warfare, and a dazzling female lead who refuses to be likable, this one’s for you.
Hedda Gabler sizzles on stage at Big Idea Theatre
If you like your classics with sharp edges, psychological warfare, and a female lead who absolutely refuses to be likable, this one’s for you.
Hedda Gabler centers on a woman raised in a world of control, status, and quiet power. Hedda, the daughter of General Gabler, has married not for love but for proximity to stability and society. We meet her just after a prolonged honeymoon, pointedly restless, already disappointed, and quietly desperate for something sharper than domestic life has to offer.
What follows is less a descent and more a slow, deliberate game.
But let’s back up.
Why, in 2026, do a 19th-century pressure cooker by Henrik Ibsen? Why not just default to William Shakespeare and call it a day?
The stakes, my friend. The stakes.
Hedda Gabler is often called one of the first modern plays, and you feel that immediately. The stakes are marriages, reputations, and power dynamics that exist entirely in subtext and social maneuvering. No kingdoms. No ghosts. Just people, trapped in rooms, making choices they can’t undo.
Director Sasha Kostyrko’s cut of the normally sprawling classic is lean without losing any of the meat of the text. The pacing feels intentional, tightening the screws without sacrificing the slow-burn tension that makes the play so unsettling.
David Fox and Sasha Kostyrko’s set is as deep and well constructed as the language itself. The attention to detail, from the hand-stenciled wall coverings to the carefully curated art on the Tesmans’ walls, creates a world that feels both aspirational and suffocating. It is, quite literally, a beautiful trap.
And now, the performances.
Kristarae Flores as Hedda is a dream. Bearing a striking resemblance to Vivien Leigh, with echoes of Blanche DuBois and Scarlett O’Hara, she is a commanding, controlled Hedda. Nothing is accidental. Every choice feels precise, which makes her all the more dangerous when that control starts to crack. Every expression is a masterstroke, conveying her inner life to the audience even as the people around her fail to see it.
Opposite her, Jason Kaye’s George Tesman is all sincerity and soft optimism. He doesn’t play the fool. He plays a man who is simply, devastatingly, wrong for her. Together, they aren’t explosive. They’re misaligned.
This stands in direct opposition to the tragic lover Eilert Løvborg (Greyson Horst), who, alongside Flores, becomes a magnetic pull toward ruin. Their chemistry is passionate, volatile, and impossible to ignore.
The show is well rounded, with a strong ensemble that shapes the Tesmans’ world. While it moves at an impressive clip, there are moments where less movement and more stillness would allow the tension to fully land—an ongoing challenge when balancing classical text with modern attention spans. That said, at just under two hours with a brief intermission, the production is a feat, and Big Idea should be congratulated for presenting a story that is unapologetic in its messaging.
And that messaging matters. Hedda Gabler insists on centering a woman who is not good, not grateful, and not easily explained—and we still don’t make nearly enough space for women like that onstage.
Details:
📍 Big Idea Theatre
📅 April 24 – May 16, 2026
💸 $20 (Fri/Sat) | $15 (Sun/Thu)