"Ghosts" by Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Richard Eyre
Nottingham Lace Market Theatre

Before I start, let me explain that this is nothing to do with a comedy about a haunted house on satellite TV, nor will you hear "Unchained Melody" played as a potter's wheel is being used!

Perhaps Henrik Ibsen’s most bleak play, it caused a scandal when it was first performed in 1882 for its frank exploration of sexual promiscuity and venereal disease.

There’s a cast of five. Mrs Helene Alving, a widow; her son, Osvald Alving, who is a painter; a pastor, named Manders; a carpenter, named Jakob Engstrand; and Regine, who is Mrs Alving’s maid but also Engstrand’s daughter.

Manders is managing the orphanage which Mrs Alving has set up in memory of her late husband. Engstrand wants to set up his own establishment, a home for retired seamen, or something like that!. He wants Regine to come and work for him there.

We discover that Manders had persuaded Mrs Alving to go back to her husband after Mr Alving had cheated on her and she had sought solace with the clergy, Manders describes her as being "extravagant with her feelings". As a man of God, Manders played upon her moral responsibility to her son, whom she had abandoned when she walked out. Mrs Alving reveals that he had had an affair with the maid. Meanwhile, Osvald is busy trying to seduce Regine, the maid.

Manders discovered that Regine is not actually Engstrand’s daughter at all: but the illegitimate daughter of Mr Alving, from when he had an affair with Johanna, another maid. Johanna then married Engstrand, who raised Regine as her own. This means that Osvald and Regine are related.

More secrets are revealed with Osvald revealing to his mother that he has a debilitating illness which he believes is a punishment for his sins, which includes lusting after Regine. Mrs Alving is ready to tell him that he has an inherited condition from his father - the sins of the father - when more bad news is delivered by Regine about the orphanage.

We discover what happened with the orphanage and this results in possible blackmail between Manders and Engstrand. Mrs Alving, desperate to exorcise the ‘ghosts’ of her family’s past, tells her son the truth about his father, and Regine the truth about her father.

Osvald tells his mother that his condition is fatal, and that if he should become incapacitated, he wants his mother to put him out of his misery with the morphine tablets he has. The play ends with Osvald in a chair, paralysed, but does his mother comply with his wishes?

It's quite easy to see why this particular play caused such upset and uproar when first written. One interesting fact is that because the critics described this play as "an open sewer", Ibsen's next play was "Enemy Of The People" which was all about domestic water pollution which no one wanted to believe was happening. Again a revelation of secrets and exposure of the past and exorcising ghosts!

The cast are Charlotte Thomas (Regina), Charles Moss (Jacob Engstrand) - who really brings out the character with physicality impairments, Nik Hedges (Pastor Manders), Amanda Hodgson (Helene Alving) and David Field (Oswald Alving) and collectively they draw you in to the story, keeping you on the edge of your seat and your eyes fixed on the characters while regaling us with such a wonderful story, and then leaving us at the cliff edge. Perfect cogs in a well-oiled theatrical machine.

With the play being performed in the Studio section of the theatre - upstairs - you are up close and personal on every level, and you really get the whole feel of this story and the taste of the character, something that would have not been so intense had it had been performed on the stage down below.

Directed by Cynthia Marsh, she has made the play described by critics as an open sewer, into a really entertaining piece of theatre. The adaptation by Richard Eyre has slimmed down parts of the original work, but removes none of the impact intended by Ibsen.

Lighting Design is by Hugh Philip, and what I noticed was the gradual dimming of the light to show the imminent closing of the day and the creeping brightness of the dawn. I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me, but then realised what it was.

Sound / Projection Design is by Matthew Allcock. There is a gentle soundscape running through the play with bird calls and the sound of rain, just to add more paint to the artist's picture. Talking of which, we also had visions of the Norwegian countryside, all overcast and damp as well as paintings to show Osvald's artistry.

Wonderful period costumes for all, sourced by Max Bromley and Doreen Hunt.

This is the first time that I've seen this  particular Ibsen play, and really enjoyed the seediness of the storyline. The shock impact may have waned over the centuries but nevertheless, the story regarding the sins of the family, especially the father are still as interesting and watchable as ever. Let's face it, this is the kind of thing that many soap operas feature on a weekly basis.

It's only a short play, just under two hours with an interval, but the adaptation gets straight to the point so that you can enjoy everything right from the off. I couldn't wait for Act two to resume as I wanted more. I've always had an impatient streak though!

Read the original article here.