A fantastic production of a powerful, visionary play. The only drawback is the actor who plays Oswald. He seems to have come in from junior year in hamming school. Otherwise extraordinary.
1
The horror of the ending depends entirely on the actor playing Oswald, and Billy Howle delivers fearlessly. The standing ovation was as much for him as for Ms Manville.
Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts," directed by Richard Eyre, and reviewed by Ben Brantley, April 20, 2015.
Irate Citizen would probably cool off if he/she recognizes that in plays such as
"A Doll House," "Hedda Gabler," and "Ghosts," Henrik Ibsen was the severest
critic and exposer of the inner corruption of European bourgeois society.
To focus only on "Ghosts," insightfully reviewed by Ben Brantley, Ibsen
portrays Mrs Alving as clinging to the very values of Victorian society that
have destroyed hers and her son Oswald's life. The orphanage she wants to name after her late husband is designed to perpetuate the non-existent good name of the Alvings, the youngest of whom, her son, a Bohemian like his father, is dying of an unmentionable and incurable venereal disease then: syphilis, given to him by his own father, wedded to what John Proctor, in Arthur Millers' "The Crucible," would call a "cold" wife.
Ibsen learned from Greek tragedians that the "Sins of the fathers [ actually, parents]visit upon their children." Is Irate Citizen sure that our Founding Fathers and biological parents are free of sin? Ibsen's "Ghosts" forces us to look within and learn if we have their flawed genes.
Irate Citizen would probably cool off if he/she recognizes that in plays such as
"A Doll House," "Hedda Gabler," and "Ghosts," Henrik Ibsen was the severest
critic and exposer of the inner corruption of European bourgeois society.
To focus only on "Ghosts," insightfully reviewed by Ben Brantley, Ibsen
portrays Mrs Alving as clinging to the very values of Victorian society that
have destroyed hers and her son Oswald's life. The orphanage she wants to name after her late husband is designed to perpetuate the non-existent good name of the Alvings, the youngest of whom, her son, a Bohemian like his father, is dying of an unmentionable and incurable venereal disease then: syphilis, given to him by his own father, wedded to what John Proctor, in Arthur Millers' "The Crucible," would call a "cold" wife.
Ibsen learned from Greek tragedians that the "Sins of the fathers [ actually, parents]visit upon their children." Is Irate Citizen sure that our Founding Fathers and biological parents are free of sin? Ibsen's "Ghosts" forces us to look within and learn if we have their flawed genes.
4
This is the type of play that allows for powerful perspective. Like "August: Osage County," different types of prisons engird the characters in a different time period, but they are riveting painful prisons nonetheless.
1
I saw it and if you think Ibsen can't astound us any more, think again. The audience gasped, sighed and in general, was rapt at the performance I saw. Bravo Ibsen for still making a jaded, 2015-New York-audience stop and pay attention.
And brava Leslie Manville, a beautiful, disarmingly vibrant, modern actress yet with all the grandeur of her predecessor grand dames. Lucky England to have her regularly on stage. She never calls attention to her "star quality" yet it radiates throughout. Bravo to all involved.
And brava Leslie Manville, a beautiful, disarmingly vibrant, modern actress yet with all the grandeur of her predecessor grand dames. Lucky England to have her regularly on stage. She never calls attention to her "star quality" yet it radiates throughout. Bravo to all involved.
5
Isn't making the audience freak out what playwrights have understood as their job since the days of ancient Greece? "Fear and Pity" are the buzzwords for what were supposedly the appropriate emotions with which those quaint specimens of archaic respectability reacted to the inevitable destruction of a "noble" but "tragically flawed" individual. Personally, I have always viewed people who can be emotionally manipulated in that manner as being the equivalent of carnival "rubes," tending to be quite conservative in their beliefs if not always in their behavior. I would further classify "Tragedy" as a sub-category under the broader rubric of farce.
I do agree, however, that the task of Art -- any Art -- is, at least in part, to afflict the comfortable.
I do agree, however, that the task of Art -- any Art -- is, at least in part, to afflict the comfortable.
1
I don't know, are we still in 2015 supposed to be shocked by 19th century Scandinavian Bourgeois sentiments? Do we really care? Should we go on Facebook and tell our friends about it? Text them? Go shopping online when we go home as we're watching Game Of Thrones? Tough choices.
The play's sentiments might not seem as sensational today as they were in the 1880s, unfortunately I think we're harder to shock these days.
In think Ghosts is pertinent to present day life especially if we consider epidemics such as AIDS for example, and how those diseases can impact upon future generations. If that idea doesn't interest you it may be that you have been desensitised by the media that you have chosen to consume or perhaps you haven't been exposed to it at all.
Ghosts isn't only about psychical disease but about spiritual life too, I found myself asking questions about the future. How might my choices influence the lives of my children?
How might my actions influence the the future of the environment and society?
If your questions are sincere then it really is a shame and no wonder you are feeling 'irate'. If your questions are satirical, speak for yourself but please have a little more hope for the rest of us.
In think Ghosts is pertinent to present day life especially if we consider epidemics such as AIDS for example, and how those diseases can impact upon future generations. If that idea doesn't interest you it may be that you have been desensitised by the media that you have chosen to consume or perhaps you haven't been exposed to it at all.
Ghosts isn't only about psychical disease but about spiritual life too, I found myself asking questions about the future. How might my choices influence the lives of my children?
How might my actions influence the the future of the environment and society?
If your questions are sincere then it really is a shame and no wonder you are feeling 'irate'. If your questions are satirical, speak for yourself but please have a little more hope for the rest of us.
6
The play's sentiments might not seem as sensational today as they were in the 1880s, unfortunately I think we're harder to shock these days.
In think Ghosts is pertinent to present day life especially if we consider epidemics such as AIDS for example, and how those diseases can impact upon future generations. If that idea doesn't interest you it may be that you have been desensitised by the media that you have chosen to consume or perhaps you haven't been exposed to it at all.
Ghosts isn't only about psychical disease but about spiritual life too, whilst reading I found myself asking questions about the future. How might my choices influence the lives of my children?
How might my actions influence the the future of the environment and society?
If your questions are sincere then it really is a shame. If your questions are satirical, speak for yourself but please have a little more hope for the rest of us.
In think Ghosts is pertinent to present day life especially if we consider epidemics such as AIDS for example, and how those diseases can impact upon future generations. If that idea doesn't interest you it may be that you have been desensitised by the media that you have chosen to consume or perhaps you haven't been exposed to it at all.
Ghosts isn't only about psychical disease but about spiritual life too, whilst reading I found myself asking questions about the future. How might my choices influence the lives of my children?
How might my actions influence the the future of the environment and society?
If your questions are sincere then it really is a shame. If your questions are satirical, speak for yourself but please have a little more hope for the rest of us.
3
Irate Citizen, perhaps while skimming you may have bumped into these lines in the review, describing Ghosts as an:
"indictment of a middle class that remains smug in an advanced state of decay. You realize, with a visceral jolt... the rottenness of their comfortable everyday world and their own individual complicity in sustaining it."
Do you not recognize that world today? Do you not live in it? But perhaps we should burn Shakespeare too. Perhaps the dead have nothing to remind the living. Down with literature. Down with art. Down with thought.
"indictment of a middle class that remains smug in an advanced state of decay. You realize, with a visceral jolt... the rottenness of their comfortable everyday world and their own individual complicity in sustaining it."
Do you not recognize that world today? Do you not live in it? But perhaps we should burn Shakespeare too. Perhaps the dead have nothing to remind the living. Down with literature. Down with art. Down with thought.
14
What the pastor says and how he says it is idiotic. That makes it fairly idiotic for out heroine to have loved and maybe still love him. If she had run away she would have run off with an idiot.
It need not be played that way, the pastor could have been a tortured soul who gave up love for virtuous duty and who has been trying to avoid temptation.
As it was done, there was no conflict - he was wrong - she was right - the end.
Some Doll House productions make the same mistake. Torvald is awful, leaving him is simply reasonable - the end. Last year's production avoided this brilliantly. Leaving him was a hard brave thing to do and maybe not even the right thing.