Emily Thompson and Hannah Merrell
For our multimedia project, we decided to cover an area in which it would benefit the production, theater department, and SIUE as a whole. Our podcast was over the recent production of Hedda Gabler, which was held on campus at SIUE during the week of October 12th. The production is about Hedda and how she is filled with passion for life that cannot be confined by her marriage or a “perfect home”. She strives to fulfill her desires by manipulating those around her. Hedda is a women hell-bent on destruction. We were able to sit down and interview Leta Debardeleben who plays Hedda in the production.
As Leta described, Hedda is stuck in her home and her marriage that she does not want to be in. As the play was based around 1940, society pressures her into wanting to fit into the social norms. However, Hedda did not have a great relationship with her father growing up, though her was the only parent in her life so she saw him through “rose colored glasses” as Leta stated. It is thought that her father did not treat her as one father should as she was born a female which means she would be unable to continue the military and last name expectations as one was expected to during those times. She talks more about her Hedda’s father and her husband and how her husband did not have a mother growing up, which is what makes this production so dramatic.
Playing Hedda in this production was Leta’s capstone senior project so she says she had to dig deep into the character, and she conducted a lot of character research in order to get into character as much as she could. Having Leta as on this podcast was an amazing opportunity as she was very knowledgeable about the production and seemed like she cared very deeply about the production in its entirety.
MC 327 Web Design Essentials 