Why do a play based on “Hedda Gabler?
” PG: The Rep approached me to do a play for them. I was going to do it on venture capitalists. I was introduced to and interviewed several billionaires. I couldn’t find a story I wanted to do, so I abandoned that one. Then [Rep artistic director] Timothy Near suggested Hedda Gabler. I went back and read it. I’d always wanted to do a play on the late ’60s and this idea that there was a focal point or character caught in the middle of the changing intellectual world, where the ideas are actually influencing people’s lives–and to be caught in a shift of consciousness and halfway between those worlds. As I read Hedda Gabler, I thought it would fit well with the concept I’d like to try to do. It merged quite easily. What issues did you want the character of Eiko to explore? I wanted to explore a combination of issues but also show that she’s an Asian American vs. a white feminist. I wanted to address gender politics and race, and then explore the idea of an Asian American identity and the
