Another fine affair: Ruth takes on Ibsen
AWARD-WINNING actress Ruth Wilson is going to tackle Hedda Gabler, one of the stage’s dynamite roles, at the National Theatre.
Wilson — who starred in Luther opposite Idris Elba and the hot U.S. drama The Affair with Dominic West — has been chosen by radical director Ivo van Hove to lead the first British production of his eyeopening re-examination of Henrik Ibsen’s 19th-century classic, which he directed in Amsterdam and New York several years ago.
Van Hove has made a name for himself by breathing new life into landmark dramas, such as Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (now on Broadway with Saoirse Ronan, Ben Whishaw and Sophie Okonedo) and A View From The Bridge.
When he directed Hedda Gabler at the New York Theatre Workshop back in 2004, using a translation by Christopher Hampton, the actress playing Hedda had been shorn of the straight-backed period costume the character is traditionally trapped in. Instead, she was wearing a figure-hugging slip.
Van Hove and Jan Versweyveld, his long-time designer, intend to use similar apparel and a contemporary set when they bring their version of Hedda to the National’s Lyttelton in December.
Van Hove removes as much excess baggage from a piece as possible so the text can be explored without being weighed down by the same old costumes and sets.
I was struck when I saw the show in New York by how dangerous and vital this new Hedda felt.
I can just imagine what an actress of Wilson’s powers will inject into the title character’s pinched nervous system.
Anyone who saw her starring in Anna Christie or playing Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, both at the Donmar Warehouse (earning her Olivier honours) will know she’s one of the best at portraying complex characters.
In demand, Ruth recently filmed How To Talk To Girls At Parties with Nicole Kidman, and in August will film a third season of The Affair.
The National, under artistic chief Rufus Norris, is on a roll, too, thanks to Danny Sapani’s powerful performance in Lorraine Hansberry’s revolutionary Les Blancs; Gillian Slovo and Nicolas Kent’s Another World: Losing Our Children To Islamic State; and the brilliant revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
There’s also excitement about its forthcoming productions The Threepenny Opera, directed by Norris, and The Deep Blue Sea with Helen McCrory, which opens in June.