State Theatre Company of South Australia presents a new production of Ghosts by Norwegian playwrite Henrik Ibsen.
02/10/2008 ::
When he published his play Ghosts in 1881, Norwegian playwrite Henrik Ibsen created shock waves in the literary world. In this new adaptation by Nicki Bloom, one of the most important plays in Norwegian literature is now made available for South Australians.
Dubbed the founder of the modern prose drama, Ibsen was never a stranger to controversy. His plays Hedda Gabler and A Doll’s House drew heavy criticism for the unorthodox independence exhibited by its female protagonists.
It was with the publication of Ghosts, however, that Ibsen really found himself under fire. The plays' then unprecedented portrayal of a family haunted by revelations of the moral corruptions in its past upset the sensibilities of his era. A family drama accused of threatening family values, Ghosts was characterised as “scandalous” and theatres long refused to put it on.
Ibsen refused to give in, and a full year after the play was published it saw its first performance, by Norwegian emigrants in Chicago. Today Ibsen’s plays can be seen on stages all over the world, and some say he is the most frequently performed dramatist after Shakespeare.
Play director Geordie Brookman said the play is both a delight and a challenge to put on.
“Even in the first few days of Ghosts rehearsals it was clear that this was going to be an emotional hurricane of a play” he says.
“There is a great deal of light and shade to unearth.”
Ghosts is playing in Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide, from the 3rd to the 23rd of October.