By MICHAEL DIVITTORIO
Daily News Staff Writer

Director Mike Altman has lots of faith in this year’s crop of Steel Valley drama students.

He’s challenged them to perform “Hedda Gabler,” often called “the female Hamlet,” a play rarely performed at the high school level.

“It’s rare for a high school to tackle such a staple of the theatrical canon,” Altman said. “It’s not something you would normally see at a high school. Some would tackle Shakespeare, and do it badly, (rather) than tackle this.”

The classic realist drama explores the aristocratic Hedda Gabbler’s motivations for marrying middle-class academic George Tesman, who not only is below her station but is hopelessly uninteresting to her.

[ Full story available at: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20201813&BRD=1282&PAG=461&dept_id=182115&rfi=6 ]