[On Stage] Lee Youngae: "A Happy Stress" in the Play "Hedda Gabler"

"It's Hard to Empathize with Hedda, but I Aim to Portray Her Persuasively"
"I Believe Everyone Has a 'Hedda' Within Them in This Isolated Modern Society"
"It's Challenging but So Much Fun... I Aspire to Perform on Small Theater Stages"

The final scene of Act 3 in the play "Hedda Gabler," currently being performed at LG Art Center Seoul. Hedda burns Eilert's manuscript in the fireplace?a work that Eilert, who once led a ruined life, completed and saw as his life's masterpiece, envisioning a bright future. To watch the manuscript burn more closely, Hedda presses her face against the transparent glass wall of the fireplace and murmurs, "Eilert, I am burning your child." From the opposite side, a camera obsessively captures Hedda's face, and the footage is projected onto the stage's backdrop, allowing the audience to see even the trembling of Hedda's facial muscles. As the stage gradually darkens, Act 3 comes to a close.

Lee Youngae, who plays the lead role of Hedda, said during a round interview held at LG Art Center on the 13th that she had suggested the camera angle for the final scene of Act 3. Initially, the camera was set to film Hedda's face from above, but she proposed that the angle should be from below to more overtly capture her face. Lee agreed that filming Hedda's face with a camera and projecting it onto the backdrop during this crucial scene, which reveals Hedda's psychology, was a good idea. "Since LG Art Center is a large theater, audience members sitting far away or on the second or third floor can't see my eyes," she explained.

Actor Lee Youngae, appearing as Hedda in the play "Hedda Gabler"
[Photo by LG Art Center]

"Hedda Gabler" marks Lee Youngae's return to the stage after 32 years, since her appearance in the play "Jjajangmyeon," which dealt with the 5·18 Democratization Movement and was performed at the opening of the Jayu Small Theater at Seoul Arts Center in 1993. Lee described her return to the stage as a "happy stress," saying that although it is challenging, she finds it fun. "These days, I tell people around me, 'It's so hard. But it's so, so, so much fun.'"

Having debuted in 1990 and now in her fifties, Lee said she feels grateful, believing that her age is well-suited for an actor. "There are emotions you can feel only in your fifties, and after experiencing childbirth and parenting, my perspective on life has become broader and deeper. As an actor, I can now express a wider range of characters."

The character Hedda, played by Lee, is extremely self-centered. She marries the earnest scholar Tesman but soon grows bored, and when Eilert visits their home, she is swept up in ambiguous feelings. However, a new woman named Thea appears by Eilert's side, and Hedda drives Eilert to ruin. Ultimately, she chooses her own destruction, bringing the play to an end.

Lee said that, despite everything, she finds it difficult to empathize with Hedda, who chooses death, remarking, "Still, shouldn't we try to live our lives to the fullest?" Lee said it was challenging to follow Hedda's psychology, describing her as "a woman for whom one plus one does not equal two, but sometimes becomes zero, or suddenly turns into four."

Actress Lee Youngae starring as Hedda in the play 'Hedda Gabler'
[Photo by LG Art Center]

However, she said she tried to portray Hedda as a woman who, while ruthless, is also somewhat persuasive and understandable, rather than as a merciless villain. She added that from the perspective of oppression, there may be aspects of Hedda that anyone can relate to.

"In today's society, which is so lonely and alienated, anyone can become isolated. Many people are surrounded by others, yet still feel alone, and there are many who, despite having families, lack love. Modern people all have desires within themselves that they may not even recognize, as well as jealousy and aspects of their identity that they cannot express. I wanted to explore those things. I hope this play gives the audience something to reflect on for themselves."

Lee also said, "I think all of us have a Hedda inside us, even if it's just to a different degree."

Although Lee finds Hedda a difficult character to empathize with, she said she is deeply enjoying the play. "I don't know if I'll have many opportunities to perform on stage again, but if a good opportunity comes, I think I would do it again."

She also expressed an interest in performing in small theaters. "Having performed in the wonderful large theater of LG Art Center, I think it would also be great to perform on a stage where I can communicate directly with the audience and exchange glances with them, to feel that kind of connection."