Ibsen's intriguing and emotionally gruelling 'Ghosts' gets new treatment from Stephen Unwin who directs his own translation in this touring production. Unwin, a self-confessed Ibsen fan, has directed six of Ibsen's plays, five of them for English Touring Theatre who collaborated with The Rose Theatre, Kingston to produce this play.
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| Mark Quartley and Kelly Hunter in Ghosts |
At the centre of the play is a widow, Mrs Alving, played with grace and passion by Kelly Hunter. She lives alone with her maid in a grand, sombre house in Norway where it always rains. 'Prodigal son' Osvald returns from Paris after years away as a struggling artist. Their relationship is close but strained after so many years apart, and the mother's desperation to make up for lost time is quickly apparent. The years estranged from her beloved son affect her more deeply than the death of husband 10 years ago (a man she describes as debauched). From Osvald's first dramatic entrance onto the stage it is clear that he is a troubled & restless soul - Mark Quartly brilliantly captures this with a body liked a coiled spring, lurching from one chair to another, running his hands through his hair, slumping onto the floor with despair and only finding release from his anguish through the effect of drink or the fanciful prospect of love with Regina, the household maid. To her horror, his mother realises he has inherited many of his father's characteristics, and indeed physical 'attriburtes' and she realises she must confront her 'Ghosts'. Her tortured decision between revealing the truth or to conceal it taunts her daily. In the programme Unwin writes: 'Ultimately Ghosts presents us with a human paradox: you can live unhappily in the rain and gloom of lies and concealment, but once you let in the brilliant light of truth, death and disaster may well follow.' It's no wonder Mrs Alving is nervous about spilling the beans!
Ghosts tackles so many themes, including the complex relationship between children and their parents. Ibsen described Ghosts as 'a family story as sad and grey as this rainy day'. In just one room a domestic drama dips and soars as it delves into the darkest corners of the soul and tests all human strength as past secrets are revealed.
Important to the plot and for the revelation of past secrets and lies, Pastor Manders (Patrick Drury) appears initially to be a friend and business advisor to Mrs Alving. He took her into his home when she walked out on her unhappy marriage and then persuaded her to return to her husband, but his hypocrisy and narrow-mindness bring equal measures of shock and incredulous amusement to the on-looker. He believes that gloom and divine retribution are inevitable - "What right do we have to happiness?" he asks Mrs Alving. Also involved in this tale of family relationships are Jakob Engstrand the carpenter, and Regina the maid, who we understand at the outset is Engstrand's daughter. But - as in all good theatre - things are not what they seem and from these five characters an incredible web of domestic tragedy unfolds.
There are themes running through Ghosts that have been endlessly explored since it was written by Ibsen in 1881, and too many to explore in depth in this review. It caused complete outrage at the time with its shocking material - incest, euthanasia, free love, syphillis, prostitution, the hypocrisy of the church. Much of this is still debated today and Ghosts could easily be set in modern times. However, and happily, Unwin chose to recreate the set originally designed by Edvard Munch, a close friend of Ibsen's. How wonderful that he did - the gloom of Munch's set adds essence to the play; the heavy furniture, the drizzling rain, the lack of light.
Guilt and duty dominate the tragic Mrs Alving's life. She blames herself for her son's torment, and eventually and incredibly also the failure of her marriage, even though her husband was a philandering drunk. She persuades herself, and reveals to Osvald, that her husband strayed because she hadn't created a happy enough home for him to return to. This is a view less likely to be taken by women today, although the guilt of motherhood and the desire to protect children from the truth still pervades.
A strong theme is that 'truth will out' and when it does, as in this particular household, the consequences can be catastrophic. The danger of secrets, lurking like a back dog in the furthest corner of the room, have to be set free in time, and although Mrs Alving thinks that by doing so she will be true to herself and will free her son from inner torment, the pain of the truth is hard to bear. The anguish and torment between mother and son is brilliantly played out in the final scene as the pair almost rip each other apart in their terrible tangle of intense love and desire for normality which is overshadowed by what they both now know. Neither Kelly Hunter nor Mark Quarterly hold back in their physical and emotional energy - it is heart-breaking, but uplifting, to see this scene so passionately played.
Ghosts is a play with so many intriguing themes and twists and turns that I had to pay a second visit. I loved it even more the second time and soaked up every word and witnessed in closer detail the great direction from Stephen Unwin and inspired design by Simon Higlett. A classic and wonderful Ibsen script, directed with vigour and performed by a terrific cast.
Ghosts plays at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford until Saturday November 9th, then tours nationwide. Tickets from http://www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk Box office 01483 440000
