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Once again, Stage Centre Productions takes on a classic play - in this case Ibsen's Hedda Gabler - and gives us a sumptuous production with a terrific cast.

Although the play is now considered a classic, it was not well received when it premiered in Germany in 1891, but over the years the title role has achieved a reputation as the female Hamlet, requiring a gifted actress to walk a fine line between logical and insane behavior.

Debbie Yuen navigates that path in an astonishing turn. Her Hedda is a tightly wound spring hiding behind a pleasant facade. This is, after all, a woman ruled by emotion, but Yuen keeps the emotions in check, only occasionally giving us a flash of the passion that smolders beneath the surface.

As the ineffectual husband whom Hedda doesn't quite love, Paul Love successfully portrays this milquetoast. However, he overplays George's ineptness, which skews the sympathy back to Hedda. Varda Shomrony creates more tension with her performance as the loving Aunt Julia, here again letting the subtler emotions emerge though a lingering look here or a pregnant pause there.

Playing the former schoolmate whom Hedda regards with a mixture of jealousy and envy, Hanna Peltoneimi-Fam offers a rather fascinating portrait of a woman who is slowly losing control of the man she loves as he drifts into a life of booze, parties and more booze.

In the role of this dashing author, Wil van der Zyl gives a portrait of a man drowning while trying desperately to maintain that everything is wonderful. The anguish that shows on his face in the second half when he realizes that all is lost is devastating.

Ibsen has created a gallery of characters that have made this play a rich banquet, but the playwright was writing for a late 19th century audience, and we are hearing his words in a translation by John Rubin Baitz. Though considered by many to be the best and most faithful version of Ibsen's play, there's no getting around the fact that the repetition inherent in the script can distance a modern viewer who will get the point 10 lines before the author is finished with it.

L. Garth Allen has done a masterful job keeping the action moving and creating a rising line of tension that begins with Hedda's first moody appearance and doesn't let up until the horrifying climax. You can tell he has inspired each performer to extensively explore their characters, and as a result every movement communicates essential information.

This is a dark piece, but the performances light up the stage.

Stage Centre Productions presents Hedda Gabler at Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Dr., until Saturday, Nov. 29. Tickets are available at www.stagecentreproductions.com or by calling the box office 416-299-5557.