The Guthrie Theatre production of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler will begin previews Aug. 19. Starring Laila Robins, Guthrie's Hedda Gabler will be directed by David Esbjornson. The show opens Aug. 25 and runs through Sept. 17.

Seeking her measure of happiness, Hedda Gabler will go to any lengths to escape from a stifling everyday routine and get past her marriage to Tesman, a mediocre and self-satisfied scholar. Ibsen's visionary empathy for women included a note on the title character which stated that, despite many chances of happiness in the world, "she cannot discover them."

The cast for Hedda Gabler also includes June Gibbons (Juliana Tesman), Sean Haberle (Eilert Lovborg), Seth Jones (George Tesman), Christina Rouner ( Mrs. Elvsted), Suzanne Warmanen (Berta) and Stephen Yoakam (Judge Brack).

Director David Esbjornson returns to Guthrie from his Broadway staging of Arthur Miller’s The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. His creative team for Hedda Gabler includes: set designer John Arnone, costume designer Elizabeth Hope Clancy, lighting designer Kenneth Posner, sound designer Scott W. Edwards, dramaturg Jo Holcomb and movement coach Marcela Lorca.

Robins has been seen in New York in such plays as Mrs. Klein, The Herbal Bed and The Extra Man, but has often travelled to the regions to play a longed-after role. For instance, she went the New Jersey's McCarter last season in order to act in Shepard's Fool for Love and to Chicago's Steppenwolf a couple seasons back to play Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. Robins previously acted at the Guthrie in Summer and Smoke. Tickets range $16-$42. The Guthrie Lab is located at 700 North First Street in the Minneapolis Warehouse District. The Guthrie Theater ticket office is located at 725 Vineland Place, in Minneapolis. For more information or to purchase tickets or subscriptions, call (612) 377-2224 or (TTY) 377-6626. Outside Minnesota, call toll-free at (877) 44-STAGE or 447-8243.

-- By Murdoch McBride