Hedda
Gabler

Is Ibsen best as dance? 

‘Hearts explode when the Norwegian National Ballet dances Ibsen’ a reviewer wrote about Hedda Gabler. Marit Moum Aune's Ibsen trilogy is one of the company's greatest triumphs, award-winning and acclaimed both in Norway and internationally. 

In February, the second part of the trilogy returns to the Main Stage – with interpretations in dance that add a new dimension to Ibsen's realism. 

The original theatre play is a concentrated chamber drama where much remains unspoken, yet Moum Aune and the dancers paint with broader strokes. Hedda's world is opened up as we delve deeper into her relationships and background. We are shown sweeping scenes that are only hinted at in Ibsen's text, where every movement serves a purpose in telling the story. 

A work of searing intensity (...)

DAVID MEAD, SEEING DANCE (2017) 

Trapped in the unbearable lightness of being 

Hedda is furious, and the disappointment is consuming her. A six-month honeymoon in Europe has come to an end, and now she is supposed to settle into a new life and home with her husband. Nothing has turned out as she imagined, and when a former lover Eilert Løvborg turns up, she reacts in a way that is dangerous for everyone – including herself. 

... has taken dance theatre to a whole new level

INGER MARIE KJØLSTADMYR, DAGSAVISEN (2017) 

Ibsen's most wicked woman 

Hedda Gabler is one of world drama’s most iconic figures – a character created by Henrik Ibsen. Is she cowardly or courageous? Spoilt or trapped? Wicked or desperate? 

Our greatest actors have continually found new ways to interpret this psychologically complex role. National Ballet soloist Grete Sofie Borud Nybakken created her own interpretation – and was showered with praise for her performance. 

‘She is stone cold but with burning rage – yet without compromising on her tenderness’

 ANETTE THERESE PETTERSEN, MORGENBLADET (2017) 

Nybakken says the role has changed her both as a dancer and as a person. You now have a new chance to experience her as Hedda on the Main Stage.