SWAN have taken the brave step of playing this production in the round, and with no proscenium arch to protect the performers every move and gesture is fully exposed. This intimate atmosphere brings the audience immediately into the action, and the effect is electrifying.

Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Ibsen’s classic is set in the nineteenth century yet has a modernity about it that is easy to identify with, and Geoff Whipp’s superb direction and a brilliant cast, together with excellent props and costumes, ensure that this production is quite simply outstanding.

Pam Goldsbrough’s Hedda creates an icy chill from the moment she enters the room, and her manipulation of those around her is almost frightening to watch, so intense is her performance. There is a real chemistry between Hedda and those in her trap, especially her bumbling husband, Jurgen (Paul Marcus), her ‘only bull in the pen’, Judge Brack (Lee Tilson), and her former school acquaintance, Mrs Elvsted (Tanya Alexander). The cast is completed by Patricia Richardson (Miss Julie Tesman), Mark Ellen (Ejlert Lovborg) and Barbara Trebilco (Berte).

Amateur productions rarely come better than this, and it is one that you really should move heaven and earth to see.

Linda Kirkman
Courtesy of the Bournemouth Evening Echo