Sheridan Smith turns the so-called female Hamlet into something frightening and dangerous but hard to feel for.
Although Ibsen is generally lauded for his progressive depictions of women, particularly Hedda Gabler, the so-called female Hamlet, Brian Friel's translation seems to elevate the men. Or at least he makes them easy to warm to, maybe a little too easy.
Hedda (Sheridan Smith), the beautiful and indulged only child of General Gabler, is newly married to the sweet but clueless and unintentionally funny academic George (Adrian Scarborough). Smith's task is to win us over to Hedda's plight, her claustrophobia and her lack of control. Sadly, she doesn't quite pull this off but she does turn Hedda into a dangerous, foreboding individual. She emphasises her lack of empathy and her ability to manipulate so that you're constantly concerned for what this woman might do.
If you are going to compare Hedda to Hamlet you have to take into account that Hamlet's depressed state already raises an audience's concern for him. Hedda is the opposite and while she causes concern, she is hard to be concerned for in this version. It's like we are asked to feel sorry for her because she is a woman in a man's world which would be fine if she weren't a very wealthy woman under the care of a really sincere husband.
Maybe it's that Adrian Scarborough does too good a job of playing George. Raised in a house of women, he is relentlessly kind and comically brilliant. As is the strangely charming Judge Brack (Darrell D'Silva) who, yes, is a misogynistic ass, but he's a really funny one. It's hard to take his advances seriously and Smith's Hedda waves them away with such nonchalance that you don't really feel any real threat or even insult.
Mrs Elvsted, on other hand, Hedda's friend/rival is academically brilliant but unrecognised and plagiarised. She is stuck in a loveless marriage and seeks validation from her alcoholic lover Eilert Loevberg (Daniel Lapain). Fenella Woolgar, blows this performance out of the water. She is fantastically moving, horribly desperate and skilfully hammers home her character's stifling, limited reality. She gives us a reason to champion her and is thoroughly absorbing whenever she's on stage. Smith is less so. Scary and domineering, she is fascinating but misses a trick in this very funny but emotionally uneven production. 
Hedda Gabler runs at The Old Vic until 10th November 2012.
Image: Fenella Woolgar and Sheridan Smith by Johan Persson
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