Henrik Ibsen’s haunting masterpiece of moral reckoning, Ghosts, lays bare the corrosive power of secrets and the cost of keeping up appearances. In a remote Norwegian town, widow Helen Alving prepares to dedicate an orphanage in her late husband’s memory. Things take a turn for the worse when her son Oswald returns home. Buried truths rise, and ghosts of the past refuse to stay hidden. Hypocrisy, illness, and forbidden love begin to expose the rot beneath respectability, igniting a firestorm of guilt and desire. The Gamm Theatre proudly presents this explosive new adaptation by Artistic Director Tony Estrella.
With just five incredibly talented cast members, Estrella adeptly directs this unsettling revival, remaining faithful to Ibsen’s vision and resplendent in its interpretation. Gamm veteran Jeanine Kane (who portrayed Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in 2001, and in Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 in 2019) portrays the widow Helen Alving, who is determined to conceal her late husband’s corrupt past in order to secure her son’s future. Liam Roberts portrays her son, Oswald, a painter recently returned from Paris and suffering from a sexually transmitted/inherited disease no one wants to talk about. Roberts adroitly captures Oswald’s charm as well as his fragile vulnerability. The pair skillfully play off each other’s wounds and strengths. As the mood intensifies and the emotional walls crumble, Helen’s stillness erupts, understandably, as does Oswald’s trembling confession of his love. In the end, we understand a mother’s love is at the root of it all.
Jim O’Brien as Pastor Manders is convincingly sincere in his moral rigidity. He means well, yet his concern and old-school views are not well received. O’Brien and Kane politely spar amongst the tension. Kelby Akin as the manipulative and cunning scoundrel, Jacob Engstrand, adeptly adds that villainy we so love to see, not to mention some humor and wily playfulness.
Regina Engstrand, portrayed by Jackie Scholl, is a cheery housemaid who understands the social order and peril within the household she serves. When she’s with Oswald, we sense her wishes, as well as her need for self-preservation. It doesn’t go unnoticed that Scholl also has a beautiful singing voice.
Reflecting on the uncompromising nature of Ghosts, Estrella says, “A Doll’s House, our first adaptation, told the story of the young mother who famously walks out on her husband and children in the final scene. A century and a half later, that climactic moment known as ‘the door slam heard around the world’ still has the power to shock audiences,” Estrella said. “Many considered Ibsen’s drama obscene when it was first produced. Yet, he did not apologize. Instead, he wrote Ghosts in which he considered what could happen if the unhappy mother were to stay on this side of the door, firm in her love for and debt to her son. In exploring the tragic consequences of inaction and our vain attempts to outrun the past, Ibsen has created an evergreen, electric work that remains one of the most explosive plays of the modern theater.”
Set design by Michael McGarty is harmonious in its simple elegance. There’s a warm, homey feel that’s at times stifling. This is enhanced by the subtle shifts of light, designed by Jeff Adelberg, pulling the warmth from the space created as the characters come to light, so to speak. Costume design by David T. Howard is appropriately simple yet stylish. It’s a small stage that gives us an emotive warmth, preparing us for the coldness to come.
Described as bold, unsettling, and decades ahead of its time, Ghosts still affects viewers chillingly with one of the most powerful climaxes in all of modern drama. There’s also a cordial lucidity, thanks to Estrella’s pensive direction. Come see what the rot’s about.
The Gamm presents Ghosts through March 22. For more information, visit gammtheatre.org/ghosts.