Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen

The production’s 1959 setting amplified Hedda’s claustrophobic world with devastating precision. This was the year Barbie made her debut, modeling impossible beauty standards; the year the first Xerox machine promised to revolutionize women’s work—yet most remained trapped in secretarial roles; Alaska and Hawaii joined the union, expanding America’s frontiers yet women’s opportunities remained frustratingly narrow.

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Most significantly, 1959 marked the twilight of the “perfect housewife” mythology that would soon explode with Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique”. Hedda’s rage against domestic imprisonment becomes viscerally urgent when viewed through this lens—she’s not just fighting her circumstances, but an entire cultural moment that demanded women smile while suffocating. In this era, women like Hedda, who were educated and ambitious became trapped as the promise of change felt tantalizingly out of reach, and they became caught between the dying world of the 1950s and the feminist awakening of the 1960s.

 

 Hedda Gabler remains one of theater’s most magnetic and tragic characters. This production brought together a wonderful ensemble returning to Main Street’s stage, including Michael E. Boyle, Jr., Abigail Crocker, Benedict Hudson, Jessica Jaber, Sara Johnson, Jeremy Kim, and Chantal Martineau