Visceral Response In Hedda Gabler

During the first half of the play, I did not really notice the lights except during the scene transitions. The main reason I did not notice them is because their job during the early parts of the play were to establish the location. We were in a standard basement that had one window above the stairs, so most of the light in the room had to be coming from an artificial source, most likely a lightbulb.

Not only did it help to aid in giving the viewer an idea of the setting of the play, but also aided in the over feel and mood of the production.

On February 26th 2016, I went out with my friend to saw this event. It was the first time of my life to be in such production. I was not a fan of theaters. I thought they are boring. Now, my mind has changed because the play was amazing. So, on the next day,

They would be eager to understand what is going on. There were no special effects so listening carefully to the characters was the only way you would understand what was happening. This made it a good idea to open the play during the night. So you in the audience would get the feel of whispers, people sneaking around etc. They did not have good costumes

When the play started with the scene of Ruth cooking, there were a lot of realism techniques in the play. The stove used to cook was on, she had real ingredients, real drinks and refreshments, telephone, real sounds, real furniture’s. Lighting determined the time of day it was. Warm colors to represent the day and cool colors that represented night time. Non realism lighting were used also. A great example was when Lena Younger was sad and she sat on the chair by the table where the phone and a picture of her husband was set; a blue and white lighting was set on her, showing and representing the mood of gloomy, unhappy and sadness.

I will be honest with you I had a lot of trouble enjoying the play, like I said the dialect gave me trouble, plus my seats were not that great. I did however like the movie quite a bit, but I realize I am a product of a different generation as well. I have been brought up around TV and movies rather than plays

Hedda Gabler is portrayed as an extremely strong-willed woman. During the times in which this play is set, numerous women’s rights and suffrage movements were occurring across the world. It can be inferred that Hedda’s assertive attitude is characteristic of the time period. To Hedda, it is preposterous that she would have to be under the power of a man. When Judge Brock implies that he will disavow all knowledge of the source of the gun that killed Lövborg if Hedda becomes “subject to [his] will and demands” (Ibsen 262). She states, “No longer free! No! That’s a thought that I’ll never endure!” (Ibsen 262). At this time women across the world were adopting new ideas on their place in society. The atmosphere of the era provides an explanation of the source of Hedda’s manipulations.

The scenes and props complimented the attire of the performers, blending together create a magnificent display. The scenery was realistic enough to afford the viewer an escape into depths of the show. The setting was beautiful and the structures almost lifelike, excepting the absence of a front screen door. It seems that almost all plays and television shows I have viewed neglect this detail. The stage lighting played a key role in the show by setting the mood of the performance during soulful, pensive songs. In contrast, the lighting proved to be a detriment by overbearing the performance of the artists, in that one’s attention was drawn to the glare of extreme quantities of makeup rather than the actions of the characters. This was most notable during the final portions of the production.

As I have seen some performances prior to this one, my expectations are kind of not that high. As the play was prepared and performed by a team of theater students, I just expected there will be basic elements a play should have. I also did expect some extraordinary performances from the main actors because I got that every time I attended the plays on campus. LMU actors and actresses / theater-majors tended to surprise me every single time I attended their plays. I know they will eventually act for a living but the fact that they could memorize pages of script, successfully get into character and act all at the same time still baffled me very much.

In creating the world of the play, the collaborates did justice in bringing out the scenery that the piece is set in. However, the collaborators used the stage design, lighting and costumes also to reveal the internal thoughts of the performers. The use of light was huge, it seemed to rely much on templates that created scenes of rain, green pastures and night sky. Though attributing to the play scenery, the use of lighting also brought out the differing emotions Rosemary and Anthony felt. The presence of death and grief were also addressed properly through the use of light, such as when Anthony father went into a bright light, a symbol of the afterlife. It allowed the audience to focus on each performer pivotal lines, which created for further understanding of the

The scenic design in this play was extraordinary, and I could tell there was a lot of effort put into it. In this play there was a stairway towards the back of the stage. It brought in a new way for the actors to enter/exit the stage. I thought this was very creative idea that was easy to move on, and off stage if needed. There were many scenes that had the moon and the stars in the background. I loved this because it showed the audience when it was night time. I also love looking at the moon and the stars, I feel it creates a very romantic atmosphere. There were times the setting was inside a house or a pub, and then there were times that the setting was outside like the war scene, and the balcony scene. I

It established the transition from reality to fairytale and set the mood of many of the fairytales. It supported many of the choices that were made on stage but didn't overshadow anything that was happening. The lighting design also did an excellent job of being a support to the show, not a distraction. It also helped establish transitions and mood, but did nothing to distract from the telling of the story.

Personally, the audio play lived up to my expectations more so than the visual play. While the visual play was excellent and followed the play well, the setting seemed undone. For example, the kitchen appliances were white, which didn’t seem appropriate for an old farm house. Also, the attire was underdone as well. The Sheriff didn’t have an official uniform on and the attire didn’t appear period correct. On the other hand, the audio play provided the voiceover, which allows the reader to visualize the play on their own. Secondly, I feel the visual played provided more emotional appeal. Mainly, the emotional appeal came from the actors facial expressions and body language. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to obtain the same effect through an audio recording. Third of all, the audio recording provided sound effects as opposed to a physical setting. For example, instead the rocking chair being shown, the audio provided the sound of a rocking chair. Another example, instead of showing the dishes like the visual play, the audio recording provided sounds of dishes being moved around in a sink. Overall, the audio recording captured the author’s intent the

The lighting of any production is the most important part in my thought. the lighting puts you in the mood that you have to be in, in order to fully understand that part of the show and to actually live it like they do. For example, when they were in the park and it was raining, they had their umbrellas, and the background effects of rain made it really seem as if it was raining in the theatre. The lighting was always focused on every part of the stage, especially on those who were the main parts in that scene.

As I viewed Hedda Gabler, I had two visceral responses during two very important scenes. My first visceral response occurred when Hedda Gabler was being questioned by Commissioner Brack about the death of Ejlert Løvborg. This scene made me feel very uncomfortable. As I watched the commissioner push and throw Hedda around, I started thinking about domestic violence. It was a scary thing to watch, and it must be terrifying to experience. When the commissioner spit his drink on Hedda, I felt physically sick. Prior to this, I really did not like Hedda, but as Hedda began to realize that she had no power to stop the commissioner, my heart softened toward her. At the end of the play, I experienced another visceral response when Hedda committed suicide in order free herself from the power of the commissioner. I watched this play just three weeks after a family member committed suicide. He was in extreme physical pain, and there was nothing that doctors could do for him. He took his own life in order to free himself from this physical pain. Watching Hedda take her own life really made me sad for my own loss. I really wanted to leave the play, but since I really needed to view the final moments, I sat glued to my seat, hoping something else would happen that would make me feel better. When that did not occur, I was actually mad. This really was a difficult play for me to watch.