LunaSea Theatre presents Ghosts
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| http://lunaseatheatre.ca/ |
Ghosts by playwright Henrik Ibsen
Presented by LunaSea Theatre
Directed by Mary-Colin Chisholm
The Local Council of Women House, Halifax
Runs until November 10th
Review by Martin Wallace
LunaSea Theatre’s latest production is a performance
of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, held at the
George Wright mansion on Inglis Street, now home to the Women’s Council of
Halifax. It’s a provocative staging—Ghosts
is an emotionally arduous play, full of pain and despair, and its intensity is
only increased by the intimacy of the setting. Patrons are seated in the living
room of the Wright mansion, mere feet from the action—less spectators than uncomfortable
bystanders. The overall effect is of fierce engagement—this is a production for
those who want to experience the emotions portrayed by the actors, not simply
enjoy their expression from a position of safe detachment. (On the night I attended I saw people crying
during the wrenching climax.)
The widow Helene Alving (Martha Irving) is
establishing an orphanage in honour of her late husband, Captain Alving. She
meets with Pastor Manders (Brian Heighton), her spiritual advisor, on the night
before its opening to discuss the inaugural ceremony. Also present in the
Alving house are her son, Oswald (Jeff Schwager), a painter, who has spent most
of his life away from the estate and the influence of his father, and Regina
Engstrand (Naomi-Joy Blackhall-Butler), Mrs. Alving’s maid. An occasional
visitor, and important part of the play’s tragic events, is Jacob Engstrand
(Lee J. Campbell), a local carpenter and Regina’s father.
LunaSea Theatre’s mandate is to “give voice to women’s
stories,” and Ghosts has historically
been seen as a “woman’s perspective” play, with its strong female lead and
sensitivity to women’s experience. While written in 1881, the play’s comments
on the rights of women retain relevancy in current debates and serve as a
rejoinder to those who think that feminism didn’t exist prior to 1960. Still, Ghosts is less about women’s rights,
than about—in both the ancient and current sense—patriarchy, about how “the
sins of the fathers” are visited upon us all. (While Captain Alving is neither
alive nor present in the play, his influence haunts it—each of its many
tragedies a direct result of his actions.)
“Ghosts,” Mrs. Alving tells us, are “all sorts of dead ideas, and
lifeless old beliefs” that continue to trouble and sway us.
The performances in the LunaSea production are uniformly
excellent, although I particularly enjoyed Martha Irving, in the demanding lead
role, and Brian Heighton, with all moralistic disdain and gullibility as Pastor
Manders. (I like the choice to avoid delivering Manders’ pronouncements with
thunderous intensity; it makes his moralism seem less punitive than fussy,
lending credibility to both his naiveté and to the implied romantic history
between him and Helene Alving.)
There are a couple of problems created by the
company’s (perhaps unnecessary?) decision to “[shift] Ibsen’s Scandinavian
classic to Edwardian era Halifax.” While Lee J. Campbell’s performance is fully
realized, rich, and thoroughly enjoyable, the decision to have Jacob Engstrand
played as a “finger-to-cap” lower class
English rapscallion gives the character a buffoonish cast that underemphasizes
his ‘Iagoistic’ nature.
Also, the decision to reimagine Regina Engstrand as African-Canadian is problematic; adding the dimension of race to a play that deals so strongly and openly with issues of class and gender is an admirable move, but other than by the alteration of a few lines to mention interaction between “the races,” the new implications are not dealt with. (That the actress, Naomi-Joy Blackhall-Butler, who expertly plays Regina is African-Canadian is not the issue here—African-Canadian actors should not be limited to “Black roles” and there’s no real reason why Blackhall-Butler couldn’t just have easily played Mrs. Alving. However, given the revelations surrounding Regina, identifying the character specifically as African-Canadian produces implications about all of the characters motivations and actions that Ibsen’s original play doesn’t sustain without substantial rewriting.)
Also, the decision to reimagine Regina Engstrand as African-Canadian is problematic; adding the dimension of race to a play that deals so strongly and openly with issues of class and gender is an admirable move, but other than by the alteration of a few lines to mention interaction between “the races,” the new implications are not dealt with. (That the actress, Naomi-Joy Blackhall-Butler, who expertly plays Regina is African-Canadian is not the issue here—African-Canadian actors should not be limited to “Black roles” and there’s no real reason why Blackhall-Butler couldn’t just have easily played Mrs. Alving. However, given the revelations surrounding Regina, identifying the character specifically as African-Canadian produces implications about all of the characters motivations and actions that Ibsen’s original play doesn’t sustain without substantial rewriting.)
Given the small size and intimate nature of the venue,
seating for these performances is limited (about 30), but you have until the 10th
to catch it. I don’t know if LunaSea or any other theatre company is going to
put on any more productions at the Wright mansion, but I hope so. It’s yet
another option in Halifax’s richly varied theatre scene.
Oh, and incidentally, Ghosts was regarded as depraved and immoral during its first
performances. If you want to read some of the most fined tuned and hilarious
vitriol ever put on paper (no one does exquisite outrage quite like the English
upper-class literary press), see if you can seek out some of the initial
English reviews. I close with a few of the best:
"Lugubrious diagnosis of sordid impropriety....Characters are prigs, pedants and profligates....Morbid caricatures.... Maunderings of nookshotten Norwegians" – Black and White
"Ninety-seven percent of the people who go to see Ghosts are nasty-minded people who find the discussion of nasty subjects to their taste, in exact proportion to their nastiness" – Sporting and Dramatic News
"Ibsen's positively abominable play entitled Ghosts....An open drain: a loathsome sore unbandaged; a dirty act done publicly....Gross, almost putrid indecorum....Literary carrion.... Crapulous stuff" – Daily Telegraph.
Remaining Performances
Sunday, Nov. 3 ~ 2pm
Sunday, Nov. 3
~ 8pm (PWYC)
Tuesday, Nov. 5
~ 8pm
Wednesday, Nov. 6 ~ 8pm
Thursday, Nov. 7 ~ 8pm
Friday, Nov. 8 ~ 8pm
Saturday, Nov. 9 ~ 8pm
Sunday, Nov. 10 ~ 2pm
