Three strong performances stand out in this production by Palindrome Theatre from Austin, Texas. Nigel O’Hearn has adapted and directed the play and appears as Eilert Lovborg. His performance is strong from his first entrance as a recovering alcoholic who has rediscovered his academic touch and much more. He makes his character’s angst utterly believable, by the end we can entirely understand the course on which he is embarking.Nathan Osburn plays George Tesman in a wonderfully nervous fashion: there is something of Woody Allen in the uncertainty with which he enters married life with a difficult woman. The performance conveys the complexities of academic life, but also the commitment to excellence which it entails, whatever the cost.Chase Crossno has a smaller role in the play as Thea Elvsted but brings huge intensity. This is an emotional performance that communicates a woman torn in several directions while still seeking to be very much herself. It is not a loud performance but a powerful one. We can sense why she has been so successful in rehabilitating Lovborg.Beyond these three the actors deliver the lines without giving us a real feel for their character. Yes, Hedda is appropriately ghastly but we never feel her scheming nature. Why does Judge Brack spend so much of the first part of the play smirking?The production is simple in backdrop and well-suited to the surroundings. The treasure lies in the three main performances. You should go and see this adaptation for the chance that you may be able to say that you were there at the debut of someone of whom we may well hear much more – Nigel O’Hearn.
