Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen

"Brian Friel's new version—taking liberties that only a master playwright might—invests Ibsen's social realist original with psychological realism, presenting the harridan's gradual mental breakdown as a physiological consequence of an entirely inflexible social milieu. Friel finds wry humour in historical hindsight; however, while the dated attitudes of Hedda's husband, lovers and lady companions provoke laughter from a contemporary audience, Hedda's final actions become an almost logical defense against a world that refuses her agency. Crucially, they still have the capacity to shock.“ —Irish Times. ”[Brian Friel] has taken Ibsen's play and given it his own twist. His translation enlivens the dialogue between the characters, gives the play energy and brings out a wry and dark humour for a modern audience."

— Raidió Teilifís Éireann

"…when else have you seen a HEDDA GABLER that moved with such compelling force and fluency…? Jon Robin Baitz's loosened-up, colloquial translation is perfect…“ —The New York Times. ”…[demystifies] Ibsen's daunting antiheroine…[cuts] away the grande-dame mannerisms and aura of theatricality that the character tends to trail along with those sweeping 19th-century skirts…[a] nimble adaptation…“ —Variety. ”…[a] fluently idiomatic adaptation by Jon Robin Baitz…"

— New York Post