Ivo Van Hove . Toneelgroep Amsterdam

How do we give life meaning? This is the central question in 'Hedda Gabler' by the Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. More than a hundred years later the quest for the essence of life continues unabated. This is what the director Ivo van Hove shows you with his modern adaptation. 'Hedda Gabler' is a story about the tragic downfall of a woman who is confronted with the emptiness of her life. Her marriage to the young academic Jorgen Tesman is opportunistic. She soon becomes bored and listless. All her frustrations surface when her former love suddenly turns up. Hedda is bent on revenge. Ivo van Hove transposes her story to a modern context. In his interpretation egocentricity and the desire for immediate satisfaction play a central role. Moreover, he does away with the cliché image of Hedda's husband as the prototype of the henpecked husband. Together with the stage designer Jan Versweyveld he sets out in search of an appropriate setting. They transform the nineteenth-century Norwegian villa into a modern American loft. This is no coincidence. In 2004 Van Hove directed the Norwegian classic for the first time in New York. It earned him no less than four Obie awards. You will now see the Dutch version performed by the cast of Toneelgroep Amsterdam. Will it win him yet another award.? Come and see…