Hedda Gabler

Summary

1962 BBC and CBS production of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, recorded in Studio 3 of BBC Television Centre. The 1962 BBC television broadcast was followed soon afterwards with a second broadcast in the United States.

Theatre play

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) [more information]

Play synopsis

'Hedda, the daughter of an aristocratic and enigmatic general, has just returned to her villa in Kristiania (now Oslo) from her honeymoon. Her husband is George Tesman, a young academic who continued his research during their honeymoon. It becomes clear in the course of the play that she has never loved him but married him because she thinks her years of youthful abandon are over. It is also suggested that she may be pregnant. The reappearance of George’s academic rival, Eilert Lövborg, throws their lives into disarray. Eilert, a writer, is also a recovered alcoholic who has wasted his talent until now. Thanks to a relationship with Hedda’s old schoolmate Thea Elvsted (who has left her husband for him), Eilert shows signs of rehabilitation and has just completed a bestseller in the same field as George. When Hedda and Eilert talk privately together, it becomes apparent that they are former lovers...' (adapted slightly from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedda_Gabler).

Production history

Premiered in Germany in 1891.

Date of transmission

Friday 28 December 1962

Time

9.25-10.40pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC; CBS Television

Credits

Director

Alex Segal

Producers

Norman Rutherford, Lars Schmidt, David Susskind

Playwright

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)

Adapted for Television by

Phil Reisman

Translator

Eva Le Gallienne

Designer

Fanny Taylor

Costume Designer

Motley

Associate Producer

Jacqueline Babbin

Cast

Ingrid Bergman	Hedda Gabler
Dilys Hamlett	Ms Elvsted
Trevor Howard	Ejlert Lovborg
Ursula Jeans	Miss Tesman
Michael Redgrave (1908-1985)	George Tesman
Ralph Richardson	Judge Brack
Beatrice Varley

Additional details

Origination

Recorded in studio

Play tags

19th-century setting; Norwegian drama

Audiovisual sources

Title

Hedda Gabler (BBC, 1962)

Archive

BBC Information and Archives [more information]

Address

White City
London
UK

Telephone

+44 (0)20 8008 2288

Website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/informationandarchives/

Access

BBC Information and Archives is not open to the public.

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 20 December 1962 (Magazine)

Linking notes

illustrated article, p. 49; listing, p. 51