There's no such thing as starting again.
A doting husband. A troubled writer. A loaded gun. It’s 2019 and Hedda Tesman returns to a life she can’t seem to escape.
After thirty years of playing wife, Hedda is bitter and bored. When her estranged daughter, Thea, suddenly reappears asking for help, the present begins to echo the past and Hedda embarks on a path of destruction.
Cordelia Lynn’s Hedda Tesman breathes new life into Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, asking what we inherit, what we endure and how we carry our history. Holly Race Roughan directs this vital exploration of motherhood, power and sabotage.
Cordelia Lynn was the recipient of the 2017 Harold Pinter Commission. Her works include One For Sorrow and Lela and Co for the Royal Court and the libretto for Miranda at the Opéra Comique, Paris. Her plays Best Served Cold (Vaults Festival) and Believers Anonymous (Rosemary Branch) were both directed by Holly Race Roughan.
Haydn Gwynne makes her Chichester debut in the title role. Her stage work includes Billy Elliot (West End and Broadway), The Audience (West End), The Threepenny Opera (National Theatre) and Coriolanus (RSC), while her innumerable TV series include Peak Practice, Mersey Beat, Dalziel and Pascoe, Rome, Drop the Dead Donkey and The Windsors.
Anthony Calf (George Tesman) played Sir Leonard Darwin in Plenty earlier in the Festival 2019 season; his previous appearances at Chichester also include For Services Rendered and Private Lives. His many television appearances include New Tricks and Poldark.
Jonathan Hyde (Brack) last appeared at Chichester in Rattigan’s Nijinsky (Festival 2011); his recent theatre work includes The King’s Speech (West End & UK tour), the title role in Julius Caesar (Sheffield Crucible), and on screen, A Very English Scandal.
A co-production with Headlong and The Lowry
Purchase a digital copy of the programme
Our programmes are designed to be the perfect insightful companion to the production. The Hedda Tesman programme includes an interview with writer Cordelia Lynn and director Holly Race Roughan to find out how they approached adapting Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler in addition to rehearsal photography, biographies, events and news from the Theatre.
By clicking on BUY you will be re-directed to Issuu's website. The purchased programme will be available to read on their website and app.
Purchasing a digital programme does not include the purchase of a printed programme.

Prologue tickets available from 2 March