Play of the week: Ghosts, Almeida Theatre, London N1

 

Paul Taylor
Thursday 10 October 2013 10:07 EDT
Comments
Will Keen (Pastor Manders) and Lesley Manville (Helene Alving) in Ghosts
Will Keen (Pastor Manders) and Lesley Manville (Helene Alving) in Ghosts (Hugo Glendinning)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The ghosts in Ibsen's great play are those patterns of behaviour that we inherit and find it almost impossible to escape.

When Helene Alving summons the courage to cut through the accumulation of lies by revealing that her husband was a scoundrel, the tragedy is that she does so too late, as her son is being destroyed by the patrimony of syphilis.

Sharp and swift-footed, Richard Eyre's spell-binding production builds to its shattering climax in an unbroken arc.

The play's daring and dark humour are conveyed with immediacy, and the performances are extraordinarily intense, especially Lesley Manville as a subtle, searching Mrs Alving.

020 7359 4404; to 23 November

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in