We take a look at what is being said about Matthew Dunster’s production of Ibsen’s classic play.
Broadway World: **** “All the cast are terrific in this production, but there’s a certain steely stillness in Allen’s performance that lifts her into a different universe. She’s a real revelation in her ability to command the stage by holding her frustrations, anger and unhappiness inside.”
WhatsOnStage: *** “This Hedda may not offer revelations, but it has a steady pulse. It shows Allen as an artist of genuine promise, one who may, in time, wear the crown as easily as she wears the spotlight.”
The Telegraph: **** “The pop star outshines fellow cast members in this reworking of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.”
The Guardian: ** “Dunster, also directing, creates good intensity in some scenes but the pace of events gathers a speed that brings out the melodrama of Ibsen’s plot. Allen shows you her character’s power and rage more than her vulnerability but you do not feel her sense of narrowing choices, maybe due to the rush of events.
Theatre & Tonic: *** “What lingers is Allen’s star turn: a Hedda who weaponizes her own alienation, her vulnerability flashing only in rare unguarded moments. It’s a performance that begs for a bolder adaptation—one that might ditch the pistols for pills, or trade Ibsen’s dialogue for something sharper. As is, this Hedda feels like a chic but conflicted cover version: brilliantly performed, gorgeously staged, but never quite finding its own key.”
The Stage: ** “Lily Allen is an enigmatic Hedda in Matthew Dunster’s soulless take on the Ibsen classic.”
The Daily Mail: ** “Dunster’s production is fully crewed with understudies and clearly hoping for a West End transfer. And Allen’s name will surely sell tickets.”
The i Paper: *** “Dunster performs a highly faithful transposition of the plot into the contemporary world, which means that Allen’s Hedda remains the bored new wife of decent but dull academic George (Ciarán Owens), who still cannot quite believe this aloof and previously much sought-after woman agreed to marry him. They have just returned from a five-month honeymoon, which appears to have lit not one single spark of joy or affection in Hedda, and are now living beyond their means in Hedda’s supposed “dream” house.”
The FT: ** “But even so, this adaptation struggles to find its groove. Too often it feels like it’s in an awkward hold with the original. The early scenes are heavy with exposition, obliging some pretty stilted dialogue and heavy-handed references to the antique pistols George has brought back from the couple’s travels. It’s always tricky to credit that proud, aloof Hedda has married earnest, bookish George (Ciarán Owens) because she’s run out of road, but here even more so: you just can’t believe she would see him as a route to security. The plot feels overly compressed — one poke from Hedda and Tom Austen’s driven, intense Jasper falls off the wagon — and the ending rushed, which undermines the tragic impact.”
British Theatre Guide: “Allen’s performance builds flavour and depth throughout, growing more compelling the higher the stakes become. By the end, it’s the performances from Allen and Tom Austen as Jasper that stand out and provide the play’s gripping climax with the intensity it requires.”
Hedda continues to play at the Theatre Royal Bath until the 23rd August.