Ghosts: Theater review by David Cote
If all you needed for a successful Ghosts were a spooky set, sickly shadows and an ardent Helene Alving, then Richard Eyre’s adaptation would be perfect. But this new look at Ibsen’s 1881 shocker about provincial hypocrisy and moral corruption, although offering forceful moments, feels more dutiful than thrilling.
Its greatest asset is Lesley Manville, best known for emotionally transparent performances in Mike Leigh films (recently as a scientist in Mr. Turner). Her Helene is a 19th-century freethinker, torn between revealing the truth about her dissolute husband and smothering the past with good works and lies. Her son, Oswald (Billy Howle), has returned home, suffering from a condition—syphilis, passed down from his father. Before day ends and dawn breaks on Ibsen’s social tragedy (as compact and speedy as a bullet in Eyre’s muscular, 90-minute version), specters of the past burst out, betokening disease, incest and religious cant that only encourages moral rot. Designer Tim Hatley’s glass walls match the crystalline quality of Manville’s fine, harrowing performance, but little else about this production haunts you.—David Cote
BAM Harvey Theater (see Off Broadway). By Henrik Ibsen. Directed by Richard Eyre. With Lesley Manville. Running time: 1hr 35mins. No intermission.
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