Ghosts

Ibsen’s morality tale certainly reveals that sexual promiscuity and infidelity are nothing new, what a racy and miserable lot they were, and how well this company showed us that. Tense from the very start with the pious Pastor Manders slowly being revealed as the self-serving hypocrite that he is in a beautiful performance by Patrick Drury. Kelly Hunter as Mrs Alving is wonderfully reserved until the truth is outed, and Mark Quartley plays Osvald with great skill. Why Regina and Engstrand are played as Scots is beyond me but despite that they added some moments of humour and light to this dark drama. Basing the set on designs by Edvard Munch added nothing to the whole and that set is poorly served by some very dull lighting indeed. Despite this, it is an excellent and well crafted piece that held us until the end, which was slightly spoilt by a silly Hammer House of Horror sound effect that assumed that none of us had ‘got it’.

Theatre Royal Brighton
3 December 2013

Rating: