More than a hundred years since it alarmed censors, appalled critics and thrilled audiences Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts remains as sensational and electric as ever. Internationally renowned Australian director Gale Edwards returns to MTC to direct this unflinching critique of marriage and social convention.
Currently the talk of the town in London, Ibsen’s classic work will set the Melbourne stage alight in this new production featuring Edvard Munch inspired set and costume designs. Linda Cropper and Philip Quast star in this gripping revival of Ibsen’s masterpiece about a wronged wife alongside Pip Edwards, Ben Pfeiffer and Richard Piper.
Pastor Manders has come to Mrs Alving’s home to discuss the opening of an orphanage in her late husband’s name, permanently honouring his goodness and generosity. For Mrs Alving, however, the dedication will be the final great lie in a marriage filled with lies.
As the façade begins to shatter, Mrs Alving is forced to reveal the truth about her husband’s secret indiscretions, in a desperate attempt to exorcise the ghosts of her past and save her son Oswald.
“The power of Ibsen’s writing is his ability to give the lives of women the weight that the Greeks gave their tragic male heroes,” says Director Gale Edwards.
“Mrs Alving in Ghosts is one of Ibsen’s most intriguing and tragic characters, a complex, majestic, vulnerable, fortified woman at the centre of the play whose world comes crashing down.”
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is known as the master of modern European drama, whose enduringly topical plays continue to be staged in all parts of the world. From works such as Peer Gynt, that reinterpreted Scandinavian mythology for the modern sensibility, to his mature plays such as A Doll’s House, Ghosts, An Enemy of the People and The Wild Duck, Ibsen created stage characters that undermined the certainty of society.
For this reason, while many of his plays scandalised the public and were subsequently banned across Europe, he became a major influence for both the symbolic and the realistic streams of twentieth century drama.
Ibsen’s study of hypocrisy and the danger of hiding uncomfortable truths remains as dramatically alive as ever – The Telegraph
Director: Gale Edwards Cast: Linda Cropper, Pip Edwards, Ben Pfeiffer, Richard Piper, Philip Quast Set & Costume Designer: Shaun Gurton Lighting Designer: Paul Jackson Composer & Sound Designer: Russell Goldsmith
Ghosts
The Sumner – Southbank Theatre, Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
Season: 17 May – 21 June 2014
Bookings: (03) 8688 0800 or online at: www.mtc.com.au
For more information, visit: www.mtc.com.au for details.
Image: Linda Cropper and Phillip Quast – by Jo Duck