Hedda Gabler more important than the rational one. Ibsen was interested in the then-embryonic science of mental illness and had a poor understanding by present-day standards. His "Ghosts" is another example of this. Examples of the troubled 19th-century female might include oppressed, but "normal", wilful characters; women in abusive or loveless relationships; and those with some type of organic brain disease. Ibsen is content to leave such explanations unsettled. Bernard Paris interprets Gabler's actions as stemming from her "need for freedom [which is] as compensatory as her craving for power... her desire to shape a man's destiny." The play was performed in
Christopher Shinn by Michael Wilson. His adaptation of "Hedda Gabler" premiered on Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre Company American Airlines Theatre, from January 6, 2009 to March 29, 2009. The play was directed by Ian Rickson and starred Mary-Louise Parker as Hedda Tesman, Michael Cerveris as Jorgen Tesman and Paul Sparks as Ejlert Lovborg. "Teddy Ferrara" was commissioned by the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, and premiered there from February 2, 2013 to March 3, 2013, directed by Evan Cabnet. The play involves a gay college student, Gabe, whose life is complicated by a tragedy on campus. The play was produced in London at