RUTH’S BLOOD, SWEAT AND TOMATO SAUCE

Ruth Wilson says that playing hedda Gabler in ivo van hove’s incendiary production at the national theatre is like undergoing ‘a workout on stage every night’. henrik ibsen’s tragedy is like ‘nothing i’ve ever been part of before’, she adds.

neither actress nor director had been interested in a traditional version of the drama about a newlywed general’s daughter who feels trapped in her marriage from the very start. luckily, they had Patrick Marber’s scorched-earth adaptation, which cut ibsen back to the bone, to work from.

Coupled with van hove’s deconstructed style, it means the piece sizzles on the stage of the lyttelton, with Wilson giving one of the most luminous performances london has seen in years.

‘From day dot, hedda was selfdestructive,’ says Ruth (pictured). ‘it’s not that marriage made her like that — it’s that she grew up that way: wanting to burn people’s hair! Playing her is so physical it’s like a workout on stage every night, so i usually need a decent lunch to give me strength.’

When we met, she tucked into her roasted squash salad and then helped herself (at my invitation) to a couple of my meatballs.

long before rehearsals, with a cast that includes Kyle soller as tessman, hedda’s husband, and Rafe spall as a lethal Judge Brack, the actress started reading sylvia Plath’s diaries in the hope of gaining some insight into hedda’s form of depression.

But van hove had his own thoughts. ‘You come along with an idea of how you might play it and he’ll go: “no, no, no! You’re going to be on the floor on your knees and Rafe’s going to be at the back of the stage and then you’re going to be curled up on a couch, as if you’re in agony!” ’

At one point, Wilson and spall were practising a scene in which Brack turns violent.

‘it’s very brutal and in the rehearsal, Rafe, in character, hit me with his jacket and covered me with italian tomato sauce. i broke down and sobbed. it was such an intense — and weird — reaction to it. ‘We couldn’t get through the scene and ivo announced we’d come back to it the following day. Poor Rafe! i wrote him an email saying sorry about what happened: “Please don’t let it hold you back.” i said that i believe it has to be brutal. i realised he might feel: “oh God, what have i done?” ’

spall was, indeed, beside himself. ‘he said: “My mother-in-law has to come and watch this — and see me brutalise a woman on stage!” ’

After every performance, Wilson makes a beeline for the shower. ‘i’m covered in tomatoes masquerading as blood. it’s caked in my hair and everywhere. occasionally i don’t wash it out properly, and there are chunks of tomato stuck in my hair.’

And after that, she downs a gin and tonic (a single, not a double).

the production is a sold-out sensation at the national, with performances booked solid through to the end of its run on March 21. nt live will broadcast it live in cinemas on March 9.

there has been talk of a transfer, but the show is more than likely to go straight to Broadway — possibly next year.

the cast have other projects. Wilson is to shoot a fourth series of the Affair, the u.s. tV drama in which she and fellow Brit Dominic West play adulterous lovers.

But the 35-year-old is not ready to give up on hedda yet.

Does she ever, i wonder, long to give her character a good shake? ‘Actually, Alison in the Affair is the one i want to shake,’ she says. ‘But hedda? no. she’s miserable. But i’ve always thought she had clarity when the others (in the play) don’t. she’s acerbic and mucked up, and i kind of adore her in many ways.’

she also wants to work with van hove again. she likes his discipline — including his insistence that the cast knew their lines on day one of rehearsals.

‘You work from 11 in the morning until four in the afternoon, with half an hour for lunch — and it’s amazing what you can get through. ivo’s very focused. he sees the world through a different prism.

‘it’s like nothing i’ve ever been a part of before — and i dearly want to do it all again!’

then she donned a cardie and coat, put on her floppy, Annie hall hat and headed off.