There’s a first time for everything, and after four years of reviewing plays around the state I finally did the unthinkable: I was late to a show. So late, in fact, that the doors were locked when I got there. But I can’t even blame it on the unexpected traffic jam created by the James Taylor concert downtown, because in addition to being late I also went to the wrong venue. What a dumb evening! Anyway, Henrik Ibsen’s study of a bored, manipulative newlywed was written in 1890, but a relatively recent (2008) new translation was done by Irish playwright Brian Friel; it’s that version that I totally missed last night.
pictured: Maggie Smith in Ingmar Bergman’s National Theatre production of Hedda Gabler, 1970