Troupe’s ‘Hedda Gabler’ offers food for thought

A hundred years after Henrik Ibsen wrote “Hedda Gabler,” which opened at Penobscot Theatre over the weekend, we still recognize a shade of our own image in the play. That’s not just an obvious testament to Ibsen’s insightful take on humanity. Indeed, he was a man before his time, predating turn-of-the-century feminism and Freudianism.

But when all is said and done with Penobscot’s current production, you might find yourself wondering about inner restlessness — its dangers and indignities. In short, is boredom an impeachable crime?

No one can ask this question more effectively than a person of power, which Hedda Gabler uncontrollably is. Carrying guns and smoking cigarettes, she is a woman to be reckoned with. Even the title doesn’t reflect any trace of her newly increased status as the married Mrs. Tesman. She can’t be “increased” — even by pregnancy. She is Hedda Gabler. That’s enough. End of story. Except watch out for the bullets.

Director John Lawler understands the predicament of his heroine, and uses the stage to bring her presence into modern times. The script is a contemporary translation by Paul Walsh, a dramaturge at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and it therefore has an American idiom rather than the more typical British approach. While the actors are clothed in an era slightly later than the original setting, they are speaking in a language far removed from the formalities of their milieu.

To some degree, this updated version, though credibly accessible and less ambiguous than other translations, causes a split response to the play. Is this a sit-trag, or live theater? Are these anachronisms, or aids? Depending on the answers to those questions, you may end up with a sense of confusion or a sense of appreciation.

In either case, you will like meeting Hedda again. She is a figure for our times, and she forces us to re-examine the peculiar jeopardy of middle-class ambition.

The various acting styles both add to and drain this show. Angela Roberts, as Hedda, packs more than a pistol with her suave combination of beauty, braininess and petulance. She’s got it, and the stage is alive when she’s on. Same with Ken Stack, as Commissioner Brack. He may resort to putting his hands in his pockets too frequently for a man of his stalwart stature, but Stack’s easygoing style, which has a slick underbelly to it, works well here. In a cunning pas de deux, Roberts and Stack keep this show on its toes.

John Sarrouf’s Jorgen Tesman is overearnest and -mannered, but never to the point of being sappy. And Kimberly Shute, in the minor role of the maid Berte, is a whirl of energy. The brevity of her stage time is a tease; she’s the type of actor you like seeing more of.

Deb Elz Hammond has more success in some scenes than in others. Primarily, her Thea is only one step away from creating her own melodrama, and that can be wearing. Muriel Kenderdine, as Aunt Julle, is annoyingly agog and sugary, and Garrett Bennett, as the rakish Lovborg, comes across like John Wayne having an existential fit.

Wes McBride’s minimalist set is autumnal and intimate with parlor pieces, a suspended painting of Hedda’s formidable father, and the suggestion that this house is held up merely by the artifice of appearances. Lynne Chase’s lighting design, ranging from gentle golds to stark whites, quietly intensifies the emotional impact. Costumes by Ginger Phelps are handsome for the women, less elegant for the men, but effective in creating a visual sense of formality.

Opening night, the performances lagged in places, and because of Ibsen’s presentational technique, in which the most exciting events take place either before the play begins or offstage, keeping the pace up is vital. Roberts does this expertly, so we end up feeling sympathy for a woman who is in over her head — rather than feeling she got her comeuppance. No doubt, there will be arguments over Hedda’s final outcome — the iciest scene in the play. Is she guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors? You be the jury.

“Hedda Gabler” will be performed 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 5 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 21 at Penobscot Theatre, 183 Main St. in Bangor. For tickets, call 942-3333.