Hedda Gabler in 2011. Vahid Rahbani was summoned to court for inquiry after an Iranian news agency blasted the classic drama in a review and described it as "vulgar" and "hedonistic" with symbols of "sexual slavery cult." A modernised New Zealand adaptation by The Wild Duck starring Clare Kerrison in the title role, and opening at BATS Theatre in Wellington in April, 2009, was referred to as "extraordinarily accessible without compromising Ibsen's genius at all." A Serbian production premiered in February 2011 at the National Theatre in Belgrade. A 2012 Brian Friel adaptation of the play staged at London's The Old Vic
Hedda Gabler Toronto, setting the first half of the play in the nineteenth century, and the second half during the present day. Early in 2006, the play gained critical success at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds and at the Liverpool Playhouse, directed by Matthew Lloyd with Gillian Kearney in the lead role. A revival opened in January 2009 on Broadway, starring Mary-Louise Parker as the title character and Michael Cerveris as Jørgen Tesman, at the American Airlines Theatre, to mixed critical reviews. Performance of a production of the play, as translated and directed by Vahid Rahbani, was stopped in Tehran, Iran