The Gate Theatre is delighted to present,
as part of the 51st Dublin Theatre Festival, Henrik Ibsen's
Hedda Gabler
in the world premiere of a new version by Brian Friel
 

Eighty years after the Gate opened with Ibsen's Peer Gynt, it celebrates its birthday with a wonderful new version, by Brian Friel, of Ibsen's masterpiece Hedda Gabler. Idealistic heroine or manipulative villain, the character of Hedda is one of the great dramatic roles in theatre and has become known as the "female Hamlet".

As she struggles to come to terms with a marriage to a man she finds numbingly dull and a pregnancy that threatens to seize hold of her body and future, Hedda quickly realises that the roots of convention run deep and, aided and abetted by her predatory confidante, Judge Brack, begins to indulge in evil games, manipulating the fate of all who enter her orbit.

The Gate has a long and rich association with Brian Friel and has premiered many of his plays over the past forty years, the most recent of which was The Home Place in 2005, which subsequently transferred to the West End. His affinity with the work of nineteenth-century nationalist writers is manifest in his own fiction and drama and in his acclaimed adaptations of works by Chekhov, Turgenev and now Ibsen.

Justine Mitchell will star as Hedda with Susan FitzGerald as Julianna,  Peter Hanly as George, Andrea Irvine as Thea, John Light as Loevborg, Billie Traynor as Bertha and Andrew Woodall as Judge Brack. The production will be directed by the award-winning British director Anna Mackmin, who will be making her directorial debut at the Gate, with design by Lez Brotherston, lighting by Oliver Fenwick and music by Denis Clohessy

Hedda Gabler opens at the Gate Theatre on Tuesday 30th September with low price previews from Thursday 25th September and will run on after the Dublin Theatre Festival. Monday to Saturday at 8pm with Saturday matinees at 3pm on 4th and 11th October and on selected dates. Tickets: Previews/Matinees/Mondays: €27; Tuesday-Thursday: €32/30; Friday-Saturday: €34/€32. Booking: www.gate-theatre.ie or 01 874 4045 / 874 6042