Her pregnancy signifies loss of herself because someone else's life will depend completely on her. But it's Tesman's child and she cannot bear the constant reminder. Saying she's her father's daughter not her husband's wife is such a cliche but it's true. Does she become hysterical? I think it was Peggy Ashcroft who said "She's an iceberg with fire underneath". Thea is one of the strongest characters We're in the 1890s and she has walked out on her husband Hedda can't do that She's this great contradiction You think she's a fiery old dog, but she's not She's a vulnerable little thing She didn't have the courage to choose the man she wanted. She has the traits of a suburban Lady Macbeth - she's a woman suffering but the question is how much and how much that manifests itself. To show how the world sees her and how she sees herself." She pauses then adds, mischievously: "Very few manage it.". I'm 27, so when Stephen Unwin sent me the script I thought, "Me? Naaah..." but then I picked it up and saw she is supposed to be 29.

There's no right age to play it but if you have someone in their late twenties the chemistry changes. Maybe I'll get to play her in 10 years' time when I'm bigger and better and I can actually do it My first impression was that she's actually very funny Not funny ha- ha, but she's very quick, witty and cold. There are those moments where she purposely mistakes the aunt's hat for the maid's, or offers a drink to a reformed alcoholic, or burns Lovborg's manuscript. You have to marry both Hedda, the inner woman, and Gabler, the outer woman. Whoever you see, you can be sure the actress is busy trying to resolve the conundrum so succinctly described by Suzman "It's in the title. The slightest allusion to it producing a violent physical reaction: her nerves scrubbed raw, hands flying to her face. Like Maggie Smith, who won the second of her five Evening Standard Awards, it netted her several pieces of sculpture.It's that kind of role.

This year, awards judges and theatregoers will be spoilt for choice. Like Bergman's celebrated, non-naturalistic 1970 production starring Maggie Smith, Warner added a brief, silent prologue stressing the pregnancy and displaying her ever-deepening terror at her physical state. Out of Joint are planning a tour for the Spring; Independent Face of '96 Alexandra Gilbreath is at the Donmar Warehouse after considerable success in Stephen Unwin's English Touring Theatre production, and Harriet Walter is in preview at Chichester directed by Lindy Davies. She first did it on TV, a performance she describes as "More mischievous, lighter, quicker, more heartless." On stage in 1977, "I was driven by the demon winds. The brilliance of the character is that like Hamlet, it's a distillation of Western dissatisfactions, but unlike Shakespeare, she doesn't have huge speeches That makes her a more mysterious voice It's immensely private. She has great silent soliloquies, like the scene where she burns Lovborg's manuscript, in which so much of her character is revealed."Suzman's stage portrayal was remarkable for its intense physicality, keening in silent grief, one arm outstretched in agony, the other pushing against her swelling belly She sees Hedda's pregnancy as pivotal.