Playing out what might have been

Characters whose destinies had previously been determined by playwrights and authors get to try their luck in the three-dimensional world in “The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler,” a world premiere play running through Jan. 29 at South Coast Repertory.

The play was commissioned by South Coast Repertory and gained notoriety at last year’s Pacific Playwright’s Festival. Playwright Jeff Whitty earned critical acclaim for writing the book to the musical “Avenue Q.”

Director Bill Rauch said he was sold on the script at first glance.

“It’s so theatrical and funny and very meaningful,” Rauch said. “The delight in seeing the play is the element of surprise.”

The show begins with a pitch-black stage. The audience hears a few dramatic lines followed by gunfire. We learn that Hedda Gabler, a character developed by 19th century playwright Henrik Ibsen, has again shot herself -- which she is prone to do.

Gabler is joined by other literary characters on the Cul de Sac of Tragic Women, a place where these fictional women live on in infamy.

“It’s set in a world where fictional characters all live,” Rauch said. “We had so much fun inventing the world of this play.”

But Gabler is tired of being infamous for the wrong reasons. So she sets off on a journey with Mammy of “Gone with the Wind” fame.

Pop-culture references are paramount in this production: How else to explain the inclusion of the Phantom from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical and a cellphone-toting businesswoman in the script.

In attempting to change their fates forever, the characters display an acute sense of self-awareness.

“It’s a study of what our essential nature is and how we may hope to change that,” Rauch said.

IF YOU GO

* WHAT: South Coast Repertory presents “The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler.”

* WHEN: Through Jan. 29; Tuesday-Friday, 7:45 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

* WHERE: South Coast Repertory Julianne Argyros Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

* COST: $28 to $58

* INFO: (714) 708-555520060120itd57dncCourtesy of South Coast Repertory(LA)Christopher Liam Moore, left, Susannah Schulman, Preston Maybank, Dan Butler, Patrick Kerr star in “Further Adventures.”