As the lights dimmed on the dress rehearsal of “Hedda Gabler,” director Larry Sutton quickly grabbed his clipboard left forgotten on the dining room table of the 1890s style one-room set.
Sutton, professor emeritus of communication and theater, sat stage right repeating lines almost as soon as they were out of the actors’ mouths. He knows nearly every word and rightly so, as he and his cast have been working on the production since mid-September.
“I was approached about this last may, and I’ve been working on it since,” said assistant director and production stage manager sophomore Brittney Biddle. “I was involved and working on it even throughout the summer.”
Before retiring in 2004, Sutton was involved in approximately 100 theater productions at DePauw. Upon returning to direct another play this fall he believed the program was ready for something different. Noticing the abundance of modern and contemporary works previously performed, Sutton chose a different path.
“You look at the modern, realistic play and it all begins with Henrik Ibsen. Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller — the premiere American playwrights of the 20th century all maintain that they followed Ibsen’s structure and technique,” Sutton said. “OK, I’m going to do one that’s the basis of modern realism.”
Sutton chose “Hedda Gabler” because of the play’s complexity and ambivalence. Each character has a multi-faceted personality and individually influences the main character, Hedda, in different and challenging ways. The small cast of seven has worked closely with Sutton to produce a show not only focused on Hedda, but also on how she is affected by the people surrounding her.
Senior Katie Sink plays the lead role of Hedda, accompanied by junior David Kunkel playing her husband, Jørgen Tesman.
“She’s an interesting character,” Sink said of Hedda. “She is definitely power hungry, but throughout the show you’re able to see her vulnerable parts, too. You see her power struggle with the different characters on stage.”
The characters have formed relationships offstage too — running lines, blocking and rehearsing for countless hours in preparation for this weekend. Personalities meshed well, allowing the actors to become comfortable working in close quarters.
“It’s so much fun to be with [a smaller cast] because it has to be a group of people that really click together and can work well on stage, especially with a play like this, and with a playwright like Ibsen,” Sink said. “It’s been great to have these people that are willing to grow every day.”
As they rehearsed, Sutton’s unique directing style posed some challenges for students unaccustomed to the large amount of time he devoted to table readings.
“Larry definitely brought a different kind of directorial approach. He had a lot of unique insight as far as blocking goes,” said sophomore Rick Allen, who plays Judge Brack. “We spend a lot of time doing table readings before we actually got up on our feet.”
The style was new even for Jared Norman, a senior who has previously performed in nine plays at DePauw, with “Hedda Gabler” accounting for his tenth. Sutton told the cast when and where he wanted them to move during the play and had them write the movements directly on their scripts.
“At first it was a little stilting. It didn’t feel natural,” said Norman, who plays the role of Ejlert Løvborg. “But when I got used to it, it was easier to make the lines and movement all flow together.”
Also unique to the production is the house seating in Moore Theatre where the play is performed. The stage was extended and bleachers were built to provide space for the audience to sit in chairs, a usual arrangement for many productions in Moore.
The unique aspect of the setup allows stresses how dramatically close the audience is to the cast members during performances. The front row of seats will put the audience only one or two feet away from the actors.
“They’re very close,” Allen said. “I like it. Sometimes it’s a little bit of a pain acting-wise, because you have to make sure you’re facing everybody, but other than that it’s really cool. It’s a really personal theatre experience.”
After rehearsing for months, the cast and crew are ready to finally have an audience. An hour before opening night all seven actors were on set jumping, yelling, singing and shaking about in a pre-performance ritual to rid themselves of anxious butterflies. Stephanie Grauer, the only freshman cast member, said she was a little nervous for the first showing Thursday night.
“I love it, though,” Grauer said. “It’s been great to work with all the upperclassmen. It’s been a great experience.”
As students plan their weekends, Norman said he encourages them to consider coming to the play, even if they aren’t typically fans of DePauw theater.
“It’s a play and a genre that most DePauw people have not seen from us,” Norman said. “It’s a much darker show. I think if people are wanting to see something different than what they’ve seen in the past from DePauw theater, this is the show they should definitely come see.”
