
A brilliant cast of seven take on Ibsen’s most challenging work, ambitiously re-imagined under director Mya Kelln. In melding Ibsen’s poetic naturalism and present influences of minimalist theatre, Kelln’s bold new adaptation breathes new life into a beloved classic. This searing, modernised tragedy debuts the all-new 13th Night Theatre Company, a collective designed to delivering artistically-demanding stories. Emerging artists from around the world have joined forces to push creative boundaries, demonstrating that challenging theatre can be done by anyone, in any venue, at any level. We spoke with Director Mya, Eliza Cameron (playing Hedda Gabler), and Jack Aldridge (playing Jorgen Tesman) about their debut production.

What inspired your minimalist, modern adaptation of "Hedda Gabler"?
Mya (Director): Hedda Gabler is a modern play, so many layers can be brought to the surface to make it resonate with a current audience. Most of my inspiration came from Ibsen himself, and the mysteries that surround the actual plot of Hedda Gabler. Ibsen gives us very little context about the pasts of these characters, which made ‘thriving in the unknown’ a big goal for us. In picking and choosing what we hope to reveal in our production, we hope to leave the audience searching for their own answers, answers that stay with everyone a little bit differently.
From an aesthetic standpoint, I would say that Jamie Lloyd’s productions are my greatest influences. I love how minimalist theatre forces you to imagine the story for yourself. In the case of Hedda, your experience of the play is completely unique to you. You can imagine this world in a way that is different from the person sitting next to you. The Tesman living room is not mine, it’s yours - make Hedda Gabler what you will.
How do you balance Ibsen’s poetic naturalism with contemporary elements in this production?
Mya: There is a certain poetry found in the way that Ibsen’s plays are a reflection of real life. He wrote about real problems, real moral qualms, and challenged what societies believed themselves to be. Speaking staging-wise, this is seen in his generous stage directions made to be a replica of reality. We’ve been experimenting with some expressionist staging, which removes some of the tradition of Ibsen. To preserve some of this heritage, we have inserted some Scandinavian poetry throughout the play. With minimalism, we’re letting the story speak for itself - keeping Ibsen’s values shown through his words at the forefront.
What were the biggest artistic challenges you faced in bringing this modern adaptation of "Hedda Gabler" to life?
Mya: It is daunting to navigate such a well-known and loved play. Balancing the heritage of Hedda Gabler while bringing to life a ‘re-imagination’ makes for a difficult task, but also the most fun. I have often had to re-evaluate and re-discover my own concepts to best represent Ibsen within a very text-centred, stylized show. This is mainly found in the emotional ties between the characters. How they speak and move in relation to each other are the only clues we have about their pasts, which weighs on Hedda herself. I am so lucky to be working with an incredible, insightful group of people to build this world, they really are the greatest collaborators.
Mya (Director): Hedda Gabler is a modern play, so many layers can be brought to the surface to make it resonate with a current audience. Most of my inspiration came from Ibsen himself, and the mysteries that surround the actual plot of Hedda Gabler. Ibsen gives us very little context about the pasts of these characters, which made ‘thriving in the unknown’ a big goal for us. In picking and choosing what we hope to reveal in our production, we hope to leave the audience searching for their own answers, answers that stay with everyone a little bit differently.
From an aesthetic standpoint, I would say that Jamie Lloyd’s productions are my greatest influences. I love how minimalist theatre forces you to imagine the story for yourself. In the case of Hedda, your experience of the play is completely unique to you. You can imagine this world in a way that is different from the person sitting next to you. The Tesman living room is not mine, it’s yours - make Hedda Gabler what you will.
How do you balance Ibsen’s poetic naturalism with contemporary elements in this production?
Mya: There is a certain poetry found in the way that Ibsen’s plays are a reflection of real life. He wrote about real problems, real moral qualms, and challenged what societies believed themselves to be. Speaking staging-wise, this is seen in his generous stage directions made to be a replica of reality. We’ve been experimenting with some expressionist staging, which removes some of the tradition of Ibsen. To preserve some of this heritage, we have inserted some Scandinavian poetry throughout the play. With minimalism, we’re letting the story speak for itself - keeping Ibsen’s values shown through his words at the forefront.
What were the biggest artistic challenges you faced in bringing this modern adaptation of "Hedda Gabler" to life?
Mya: It is daunting to navigate such a well-known and loved play. Balancing the heritage of Hedda Gabler while bringing to life a ‘re-imagination’ makes for a difficult task, but also the most fun. I have often had to re-evaluate and re-discover my own concepts to best represent Ibsen within a very text-centred, stylized show. This is mainly found in the emotional ties between the characters. How they speak and move in relation to each other are the only clues we have about their pasts, which weighs on Hedda herself. I am so lucky to be working with an incredible, insightful group of people to build this world, they really are the greatest collaborators.

What inspired the formation of the 13th Night Theatre Company and why choose "Hedda Gabler" for your debut?
Mya and Eliza (Co-Founders): Truthfully, Hedda Gabler came before 13th Night. We both liked the idea of putting on something ambitious with young artists, and felt as though these types of opportunities are invaluable to us as emerging artists. With this mindset, we decided that a company dedicated to this purpose was something to pursue. The company name came from where we first met, a production of Twelfth Night. We liked how thirteen follows twelve, reflecting on the forward-moving nature of emerging artists. Progress is key, and we hope that our company can act as a stepping stone to more opportunities for young creatives. Taylor Swift may have had an influence as well…
How does your company plan to support emerging artists and push creative boundaries in future projects?
Mya and Eliza: We believe that young artists need these types of opportunities to grow, and we intend to keep providing them. We want to be giving what would be considered career-defining opportunities to those whose careers have yet to be defined. Telling these types of re-imagined classics challenge the emerging artist experience, throwing ourselves into the deep end makes for a learning experience. The chance to learn and create is what we hope to give, and we look forward to continuing Hedda’s legacy with similar projects.
Can you describe your character and the challenges you faced in bringing them to life?
Jack Alridge (Jorgen Tesman): Tesman is typically bumbling, perceived through the eyes of Hedda as a weak minded man. To her, he is a safe option, and so the challenging part of this role is to produce a character who is much more layered than Hedda understands. Tesman is juggling his academic ambition with his desire to create the domestic life that is expected of him. I think that he is a bit more of a showman than he appears to be - he puts up a front with his aunt, an optimistic one, and is seemingly accepting of Hedda’s indifference to him, but at his core he is a passionate person who needs validation, and feels things just as the others do.
Mya and Eliza (Co-Founders): Truthfully, Hedda Gabler came before 13th Night. We both liked the idea of putting on something ambitious with young artists, and felt as though these types of opportunities are invaluable to us as emerging artists. With this mindset, we decided that a company dedicated to this purpose was something to pursue. The company name came from where we first met, a production of Twelfth Night. We liked how thirteen follows twelve, reflecting on the forward-moving nature of emerging artists. Progress is key, and we hope that our company can act as a stepping stone to more opportunities for young creatives. Taylor Swift may have had an influence as well…
How does your company plan to support emerging artists and push creative boundaries in future projects?
Mya and Eliza: We believe that young artists need these types of opportunities to grow, and we intend to keep providing them. We want to be giving what would be considered career-defining opportunities to those whose careers have yet to be defined. Telling these types of re-imagined classics challenge the emerging artist experience, throwing ourselves into the deep end makes for a learning experience. The chance to learn and create is what we hope to give, and we look forward to continuing Hedda’s legacy with similar projects.
Can you describe your character and the challenges you faced in bringing them to life?
Jack Alridge (Jorgen Tesman): Tesman is typically bumbling, perceived through the eyes of Hedda as a weak minded man. To her, he is a safe option, and so the challenging part of this role is to produce a character who is much more layered than Hedda understands. Tesman is juggling his academic ambition with his desire to create the domestic life that is expected of him. I think that he is a bit more of a showman than he appears to be - he puts up a front with his aunt, an optimistic one, and is seemingly accepting of Hedda’s indifference to him, but at his core he is a passionate person who needs validation, and feels things just as the others do.

How do you see this modern interpretation of "Hedda Gabler" resonating with contemporary audiences?
Jack: The intimacy that this space provides, will allow audiences to sit in the living room with the characters as the events unravel in real time. This adaptation’s emphasis on repressed desires and domestic boredom feels extremely contemporary within our technologically isolating world. Loneliness is certainly timeless.
Can you describe your character and the challenges you faced in bringing them to life?
Eliza (Hedda Gabler): Hedda Gabler is an immensely misunderstood character. It is very easy to pigeonhole her as a sociopath, a woman trapped within her circumstances or even as a heartless adversary to womanhood itself. These categories, however, are reductive. Hedda is a woman who is unable and unwilling to keep up with the societal expectations of what a woman should be, and as such, she crumbles under the weight of that pressure. Forced to commodify her body in order to navigate the sexual and social economy of the play, this process is essentially dehumanising and in the end: self-destructive.
Playing a character who rages so hard against her circumstances, whilst simultaneously surrendering to to the conditions that make those circumstances possible has been very challenging. Hedda is a complex character, one that does not always act with logic, nor with an objective at the forefront of her mind. Sometimes, she just acts. This quality is what makes her so astoundingly human. I do not wish to play her as simply a villain, nor do I wish to play her as a victim. She is simultaneously both and neither. She is a human, and humans can be messy.
How did Mya Kelln’s direction influence your performance?
Eliza: Mya Kelln is a wonderful director in that she keeps the rehearsal space very collaborative, encouraging free flow discussions in order to dissect character intention and behaviour. As an actor, the use of these discussions is invaluable as they allow one to deeply explore their character’s psyche and uncover aspects of their mind and reasoning that would otherwise go unnoticed. It was through these discussions that I discovered Hedda’s vulnerability, and the multitude of various and oftentimes conflicting qualities that colour her character.
What are you most excited for the audience to see in this performance?
Eliza: I’m excited to encourage the audience to take a stance on whether or not they like — or even sympathise — with Hedda. If this performance can provoke differing opinions on the morality of her actions, then we have succeeded in creating something nuanced and reliant upon audience reception. Creating a production that holds something different for every audience member is paramount, as it is only through nuance that the audience can reflect on their own morality.
Hedda Gabler runs 2nd - 13th July 2024 at The Bread & Roses Theatre: https://app.lineupnow.com/event/hedda-gabler-1
Jack: The intimacy that this space provides, will allow audiences to sit in the living room with the characters as the events unravel in real time. This adaptation’s emphasis on repressed desires and domestic boredom feels extremely contemporary within our technologically isolating world. Loneliness is certainly timeless.
Can you describe your character and the challenges you faced in bringing them to life?
Eliza (Hedda Gabler): Hedda Gabler is an immensely misunderstood character. It is very easy to pigeonhole her as a sociopath, a woman trapped within her circumstances or even as a heartless adversary to womanhood itself. These categories, however, are reductive. Hedda is a woman who is unable and unwilling to keep up with the societal expectations of what a woman should be, and as such, she crumbles under the weight of that pressure. Forced to commodify her body in order to navigate the sexual and social economy of the play, this process is essentially dehumanising and in the end: self-destructive.
Playing a character who rages so hard against her circumstances, whilst simultaneously surrendering to to the conditions that make those circumstances possible has been very challenging. Hedda is a complex character, one that does not always act with logic, nor with an objective at the forefront of her mind. Sometimes, she just acts. This quality is what makes her so astoundingly human. I do not wish to play her as simply a villain, nor do I wish to play her as a victim. She is simultaneously both and neither. She is a human, and humans can be messy.
How did Mya Kelln’s direction influence your performance?
Eliza: Mya Kelln is a wonderful director in that she keeps the rehearsal space very collaborative, encouraging free flow discussions in order to dissect character intention and behaviour. As an actor, the use of these discussions is invaluable as they allow one to deeply explore their character’s psyche and uncover aspects of their mind and reasoning that would otherwise go unnoticed. It was through these discussions that I discovered Hedda’s vulnerability, and the multitude of various and oftentimes conflicting qualities that colour her character.
What are you most excited for the audience to see in this performance?
Eliza: I’m excited to encourage the audience to take a stance on whether or not they like — or even sympathise — with Hedda. If this performance can provoke differing opinions on the morality of her actions, then we have succeeded in creating something nuanced and reliant upon audience reception. Creating a production that holds something different for every audience member is paramount, as it is only through nuance that the audience can reflect on their own morality.
Hedda Gabler runs 2nd - 13th July 2024 at The Bread & Roses Theatre: https://app.lineupnow.com/event/hedda-gabler-1