Ghosts

Image by Jeff Busby.  

Ibsen’s classic sensationalist drama Ghosts is currently being presented by Melbourne Theatre Company in a directorially excessive production helmed by Gale Edwards. This visually striking take on the play is undermined by a distinct lack of pace and over-the-top performances.

On the eve of the tenth anniversary of her husband’s death, Mrs. Alving (Linda Cropper) prepares for the opening of her new orphanage. Her estranged artist son Oswald (Ben Pfeiffer) is visiting from Paris and her lawyer/priest Pastor Manders (Philip Quast), with whom she has a romantic past, takes up residence in the guest house in order to discuss financial and legal matters. Over the course of the day sordid secrets are revealed, events from the past come back to haunt the central characters and lives are destroyed in the process.

Many believe Ibsen deliberately wrote Ghosts to shock his contemporary audience. Themes of adultery, genetic disease and incest were never explored on stage towards the end of the nineteenth century and the play caused a sensational scandal when first published. However, for all the dramatic revelations and highly emotional confrontations in the piece, Ghosts falls under the umbrella of realism within Ibsen’s eclectic oeuvre. The playwright was revealing the festering hypocrisy within his society through the prism of a recognisable family unit.

It is quite puzzling then why director Edwards, using her own translation of the text, has opted to stage the piece in such an overwrought and highly unsubtle fashion. The performers shout their dialogue with pristine diction using (slightly British) neutral accents, they dramatically turn to the audience with emotionally grandiose expressions, pull out their hair, cry to the heavens and collapse on floors. Unfortunately for the talented cast, the director’s choices render their characters more as melodramatic representations rather than real people. It is a broad and bold choice from Edwards, which may well appeal to many theatregoers, but I ultimately struggled. This distracting performative style takes much of the tension, pace and emotional power out of the play. The ninety minutes running time feels longer.

The set and costume designs by Shaun Gurton are splendid. Sharp angular perspective lines forming the windows, doorways and floors of Mrs. Alving’s residence dominate the stage of the Sumner. The main window has an ingenious rain mechanism, reminiscent of the famous Gallery of Victoria water wall, which ensures that the dreary weather alluded to in the text envelops the proceedings with palpable atmosphere. The erosion of the central relationships and the ugliness of revealed truths are reflected in the mouldy wallpaper and fraying floorboards of the set. Similarly, the lighting design by Paul Jackson beautifully highlights the narrative drama. Entrances and exits are often signalled by sharp beams of light that throw giant shadows on walls, signalling the possibility of escape from this poisonous household.

Ghosts also features some haunting visual moments, such as when Mrs. Alving spies her son sharing an intimate dance with Regina (Pip Edwards) in the garden and when Quast first strides onto the stage through the rain with umbrella in hand. Speaking of Quast, he has a commanding presence that works splendidly for the role and his delivery of Ibsen’s language is commendable. Richard Piper as the sleazy and conniving Engstrand injects some humour and life into the production, but unfortunately Copper and Pfeiffer ultimately don’t quite convince in their roles due to their director’s heavy hand.

This handsome yet frustrating production of Ghosts may haunt me in the future, but probably for the wrong reasons.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Ghosts

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, MTC, Southbank
www.mtc.com.au
17 May – 21 June