Ghosts

Synopsis

Classic drama about a woman's struggle against prejudice and fear written in 1881. On her country estate, Mrs Alving is building an orphanage in memory of her dead husband. As her son Oswald, a successful artist living in Paris, returns home and the Pastor arrives to dedicate the orphanage, it seems she can finally bury the painful memories of her past. But over the course of one day, the dark secrets and unresolved tensions of the past are brutally exposed. The strange and complex relationships that bind Mrs Alving and her son to their maid Regina, her father Engstrand and to the priest Manders come to light - and we discover the shocking truth about her dead husband.

Our Review:

30 April 2013

I think it was about a minute into the extended fire scene – a two-minute sequence that saw the stage lights dim, an orange glow get projected onto the set’s back wall and a crackling sound effect get turned up – that I gave up trying to enjoy Sell A Door Theatre Company’s version of Ibsen’s Ghosts.

Ghosts follows the decent of Oswald Alving (Jason Langley), who is tarnished by his deceased father’s infidelity. When Helene (Deborah Blake) tells her son that her maid and his love interest, Regine Engstrand (Tamaryn Payne), is his half-sister, he loses his mind.

It’s a difficult play to put on, not least of all because it treats its subject – syphilis – as a metaphor for moral decay. Sexually transmitted diseases might have been scandalous in the 19th century, but better health care has cemented their status as nothing more than a nuisance today. And would you really choose to see a play about some...

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