Director works to illuminate Ibsen

Published 4:00 pm Thursday, February 5, 2004

Norway’s brightest star shines at the RiverOslo is Susi Brown’s Mecca.

The drama teacher from Astoria embarked on a pilgrimage to Europe in October and made a surprising discovery.

Henrik Ibsen, Norway’s greatest author and the father of dramatic realism, sometimes suffered from writer’s block.

At Ibsen’s home and museum, she learned that the great man toyed with figurines when the ideas didn’t flow.

Uplifted, she returned to Astoria and set about casting the actors she would direct across the stage of the River Theater.

“Hedda Gabler” opened Thursday and continues tonight with a two-week run of eight performances. The play is about a bored aristocrat who marries beneath herself and relieves her boredom by manipulating others toward disaster.

“I was looking for a play that has good roles for women,” said Brown. “I am fascinated in what makes her tick, and I like a play that begs the actors and director to create histories, find clues and mine them.”

Rehearsing almost daily since November, sometimes for three-hour stints, Brown said the cast spent more time in early sessions discussing motivation and character than reading lines.

In the title role is Rhonda Alderman, a familiar figure for North Coast audiences; her husband, Mick, plays one of Hedda’s admirers, Ejlert Lovborg.

Hedda GablerWhat: Henrik Ibsen’s play set in late 19th-century Norway.

Where: The River Theater, 230 W. Marine Drive, Astoria.

When: 8 p.m. tonight, Saturday and Feb. 12, 13 and 14; 2 p.m. matinees Sunday and Feb. 15.

Tickets: $10 general admission, $7 for seniors and students. Advance purchase at the theater box office, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, and one hour before each performance, or by calling (503) 325-7487 with Visa/Mastercard.Brown cast the show, handed the seven actors their scripts with time to read them, then called them together. Her leading lady pleased and astonished her. “This young woman came into the first rehearsal loaded for bear,” said Brown. “I had a hard time getting my chin off the floor.”

The director noted how prepared Alderman was to interpret a nuanced Hedda. Like another actress playing Lady Macbeth a year ago, she sought to find clues in the text to the character’s softer side amid her macabre maneuvering.

“It’s easy to read her as nasty, self-centered, vindictive and materialistic – it’s pretty horrible,” said Alderman. “The more you read what Ibsen wrote, you begin to get layers. She reminds me of a school bully who treats everybody badly because she’s unhappy. You really can’t hate that person, you pity her.”

Hedda is a different person depending on who she is with. She is rude to her husband Jorgen’s beloved aunt, then expresses remorse to another character. She doesn’t treat her husband well, but commends him sincerely to others. She is rude to a woman who helps Lovborg become sober, but admonishes Lovborg when he says unpleasant things about the woman.

“She’s not devoid of redeeming qualities,” Alderman said. “She just can’t seem to use them in the appropriate circumstances.”

Dean Major appears as Jorgen, while Michael Miller is Judge Brack, another of Hedda’s admirers. Aunt Juli is played by Toni Ihander and the family’s maid, Berte, is played by Brandy Bierly Hussa.

Brown is keen the backstage crew earns equal kudos. Kathryn Bourn, a Civil War re-enactor, was recruited to create costumes. Another re-enactor loaned two Remington pistols that play key parts in the action and Bourn taught cast members how to hold and fire them. Brown also commended technical director Larry Bryant for his unflappable nature.

The play’s mature themes and offstage violence should be suitable for children 12 and older. “I would come see it because I think the actors’ portrayals are going to be very interesting to watch,” Brown said.