Hedda Gabler

When was the play written?

1890

Where is the play set?

Norway

Where was it first performed?

Residence Theatre, Berlin, 1891

What were Ibsen's intentions?

-to break out of the melodramatic norms of theatre at the time
-his work was naturalistic, real

What did Ibsen criticise of the first performance?

Clara Heese's portrayal of Hedda was too declamatory

What should you include in paragraph 1?

-original performance conditions
-dates in its history e.g. first performed

Who's version of the play are we studying?

Richard Eres

What should you include in paragraph 2?

-Ibsen's intentions
-criticisms of the first performance

What should you include in paragraph 3?

-your own directorial concept
-set
-costumes
-time period

What should you include in paragraph 4?

-Stanislavski
-links with Ibsen (naturalism)
-describe super objective if character(s) in extract

What should you include in paragraphs 5, 6, and 7?

-describe how the character is in the extract (para 5)
-choose 3 moments to explain in chronological order
-explain the moment, quote the lines
-what Stanislavski technique you would use with the actor in this moment. Name the technique and how they would use it
-explain what will happen on stage
-physicality, facial expressions, voice IN THAT ORDER
-really go into detail to show the intention of the moment
-relate to the audience
-repeat 3 times

What should you include in the conclusion?

-repeat words from the question
-and therefore want the audience to...

relaxation

-involves a form of meditation that enables the actor to completely relax and escape their everyday life, so they can reset themselves to become the new character.

Emotion memory

-involves the actor recalling a situation similar to that of the action in the play that resembles one in their own life. E.g. a death in the play, a death in the actor's own family. This allows the actor to bring the realistic emotion they would feel to the play, so it is not forced and fake.

Magic IF

-the actor uses a series of "what if" questions and apply it to the character, e.g. "what if I was in this situation" this enables the actor to put their raw emotions into the action on stage.

Units and Objectives

-units involve the actor breaking a scene into relevant portions
-objectives are then applied to these units, so the actor can create a character objective for each unit which will involve different emotions and motives

Super objective

-the super objective is the overall aim of a character in a play, what they want to achieve

Score

-to score the script is to annotate around the lines of the script with intentions and performance tips, so the actor is confident on how they will act at each given line. Avoids improvisation in stage.

Given circumstances

-this involves the actor learning more about their character by putting them in imagined situations. E.g. what was this character's childhood like? What is their family dynamic? Was their an incident in their past that effected their present?

circles of attention

-to pinpoint attention, this technique involves creating circles. The first circle being the actor themselves, the second could be something in the set around them, a third could be the rest of the stage. These circles divide up the audiences attention to focus on different actions on stage.

Endowment

-giving physical and emotional attributes to an object. For example, a simple plain piece of paper could be a important manuscript the play is dependent on.

Tempo rhythm

-refers to the speed in which lines are delivered, and the speed of action on stage. A nervous character might employ a fast tempo rhythm to show their anxiety, for example.

What is Hedda's super objective?

To gain complete control and corrupt others

What is Thea's super objective?

To find and care for Eilert Loveborg, and to gain her freedom and higher status

What is Tesman's super objective?

To become a well-known, respected and successful professor and scholar

What is Aunt Juju's super objective?

To make Tesman happy

What is Loveborg's super objective?

To publish his manuscript and reunite with Hedda

What is Brack's super objective?

To have power and control over everyone