What relationship do you have with the character of Hedda Gabler?
It is a dual character. On one side, just as Flaubert said of Madame Bovary, I could say: Hedda Gabler is me. On the other side, I could say that it is not the character of Hedda Gabler that is of interest to me, but the environment in which she evolves. The play also deals with Hedda Gabler’s house, the social or personal space in which she locks herself in, questions the world, grows and deconstructs herself. The house as an image of her society is my main interest... This will be her last house... she will die in it.
You often choose characters who, through their way of being, make social conventions implode...
Yes, I like to think about our place in the social, imaginary or political sphere. What is the place of the individual in the world? How is it determined, predetermined, how do we take our place? How can individuals fight against predetermination? Is there an inevitable friction between individuals and the society in which they live, happily or not?
Is choosing this type of character due to a political reason?
Yes, it is a political critique, as in a critique of the state of a world in which individuals cannot live. Maybe because I sometimes feel I can’t live in the world as it is or as I think it is.
Is it not a story about an obsolete time?
No, and I’ll take a sentence in the play to illustrate my point: “Our lightness too often has consequences”. I like this idea. The relationship between what is said and what is done. How what is said is parallel to what is done and what we can expect of these words. While we hear that Hedda is a play full of unsaid things, I feel that on the contrary, it is a play where all is said. Things escape mouths in a monstrous, evil way. Nothing is premeditated. I feel like setting the play in the present tense. Catastrophe comes from the present, which leads to something else. The rifle was lying there, she takes it and fires it. Death comes to Hedda, and not the opposite. It is sheer impulsion, always on the edge of consciousness.
Richard Brunel graduated from the École de la Comédie de Saint-Étienne. Since 1997, he has been the director of Compagnie Anonyme. In 2003, he started the directing course ‘Unité Nomade de Formation à la mise en Scène’. Recently, he directed Kasimir et Karoline by Horvath, La tragédie du vengeur by Cyril Tourneur, L'infusion by Pauline Sales, Gaspard by Peter Handke and together with the Maîtrise de l'Opéra National de Lyon, Celui qui dit Oui- Celui qui dit Non by Brecht and Weill. In June 2004, he was named associate director at the Manufacture-Centre Dramatique National de Nancy Lorraine for a duration of three years.
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) was a Norwegian poet and writer. He published Catilina in 1948. Shortly after, Ibsen became the artistic director and official poet for the Norwegian Theatre opening in Bergen. His work was at first only moderately successful. In 1864, the invasion of Denmark by the Prussian army inspired him to write Brand, a pamphlet that became hugely successful, making him an instant celebrity. With A Doll House (1879) and Hedda Gabler (1880), Ibsen’s work opened onto society in Europe at that time. The latter was phenomenally successful, at home and abroad. He also wrote the novel Peer Gynt.
Hedda Gabler will be produced at the Centre Dramatique National de Besançon (17-26 Jan 07) and will be performed in Nancy, Angers, Valence, Lyon, and at the Théâtre National de la Colline in Paris (26 May - 24 June).
Directed by Richard Brunel.
With David Ayala, Gilette Barbier, Cécile Garcia-Fogel, Laurent Méninger, Grégoire Monsaingeon, Julie Pilod, Frédérique Ruchaud.
ranslated by Michel Vittoz.
Adapted by Catherine Allioud-Nicolas.
Stage Design by Marc Lainé.
Lighting by Mathias Roche.
Costumes by Marie-Frédérique Fillion, Marc Lainé.
Sound by (TBC) Stage Design by Nicolas Hénault.
Directing Assistant: Sandrine Lanno.
Production administration: Vanessa Ceroni.
Coproduced by Compagnie Anonyme, Les Subsistances / Lyon / France, Théâtre National de La Colline, Théâtre de La Manufacture Centre Dramatique National Nancy-Lorraine, Nouveau Théâtre de Besançon - CDN de Franche-Comté. With the help of Région Rhône-Alpes.
La Compagnie Anonyme is subsidised by DRAC Rhône-Alpes and Région Rhône-Alpes. Funded by the Ville de Saint-Etienne and Conseil Général de la Loire.
