Putting a classical play on stage brings in a great advantage: well-known material that people will surely appreciate. However, it is also a huge challenge, as the performance has to be “high-class:” overly dramatic actors or a poorly decorated stage and awkward pauses kill the play from the beginning. Avoiding all these when putting “Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen on the stage of the Access Theatre, Extant Arts Company did brilliant job and stood up to the audience’s high expectations.
Indeed, the expectations were high, as the audience was full. Chatting with excitement beforehand, the audience didn’t realize that the play started when the first actress came to the stage and began gently touching the decorations that hung there, resembling pouring rain. It was hard to say whether they were made of plastic or cloth material, as it was dark and mysterious in the theater. Similarly, it was unclear whether the play started or the girl was just preparing the stage for the performance making sure that the “raindrops” were hanging there orderly.
With the second actor coming to the scene, the action officially started and the audience kept silent partially because they were well-mannered, mostly because they were fascinated with the acting, the plot and even the stage itself, decorated as a living room of a house, but not limited to it: some action that took place in other rooms was reflected on the three TVs located on the stage.
Unusual for a play, this effect allowed the crew to show two scenes at the same time.
With all its beauty and sophistication, the setting was a good background for marvelous acting. The most remarkable was Mrs. Alving (LeeAnne Hutchinson). She was the one who knew almost all the family’s secrets, except for that of her own son’s, and she revealed them all to her priest, Pastor Manders (Anthony Holds), when he irritated her enough with his doctrines of duty. Her every nerve was reflected on her face when Helene Alving talked about her own view on duty and family. She was so strict and self-confident with her hair up in a bun in the beginning of the performance and so helpless and lost with her light curls spreading down her shoulders at the end. Always a strong woman, Mrs. Alving remained herself until the final when agonizing with love and despair she screamed, “Where are they?” Transforming into this passionate and miserable woman, Hutchinson deserved both the central role in the play and most of the applause the viewers gave to the crew.
Another feminine character was Regina Engstrand (Justine Salata), a young girl raised and educated by Mrs. Alving, who was currently working in her house as a maid. Appearing on the stage as the spirit of youth, with her lively energy and fancy French words popping up as she spoke, Regina was the most desirable person for everyone in the play. Her father, Jacob Engstrang (Chris Haag), wanted to get her back from Mrs. Alving, so that Regina could work in the boarding house for sailors he was planning to open. Oswald Alving (Paulo Quiros), Mrs. Alving’s son, who had just returned from Europe, hoped that Regina would be not only his lover, but also his savior, someone who would be able to end his curse. As for Pastor Manders, he did not express what he thought when Regina tried to seduce him, but he seemed quite nervous, which showed that if he were not so ideally sinless (was he?), he would eagerly go for it. At the end, however, when all the mysteries were brought to light, Regina had nothing else to do but go to the street hoping to make the most out of her body while she is still young. Knowing the truth about the Alvings hurt her the most out of all the characters.
Salata played her role with passion and energy. Regina came out “full of life” indeed, just the way Oswald described her. If all attention was not concentrated on Hutchinson, she would have been the viewers’ favorite for sure.
Out of all male characters, Jacob Engstrand stood out. With his slight limp that he got in a drunk fight and his keen and cunning humor that helped him be positive and avoid troubles, he was a bit dishonest, but a likable character overall. He was also materialistic; he always aimed at making a profit when he saw the opportunity. He could blackmail or marry a ruined woman – and nothing would stop him. And not only that: he would also tell people around him that he is the most compassionate man in the world and all he did was kindhearted and everyone would easily believe him.
As for the remaining characters, Pastor Manders and Oswald Alving, they moved in opposite directions throughout the play. In the beginning, Pastor was full of self-confidence and belief in what he did, while Oswald was a hesitant young man, an artist who had no inspiration to paint and little desire to live. At the end, it all reversed: Pastor’s world crushed like Alving’s orphanage on fire, while Oswald found his peace in Mrs. Alving’s motherly hands. Surprisingly, they both tended to gain control over people. Pastor Manders did so through his unrealistic moral standards, whereas young Alving manipulated his mother because she loved him dearly. “Will you do anything for me, mother?” he demanded firmly. “Yes,” agreed Mrs. Alving, not aware of how difficult it would be to fulfill her promise.
Overall, the play was engaging, entertaining and thought-provoking, a performance that held the audience’s attention for the full hour and forty-five minutes it lasted.
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