Independent Theatre's GHOSTS Comes to Adelaide This Winter

More than a hundred years since it appalled critics, excited audiences and was reviled by the press, Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts remains as engaging and challenging as ever. Independent Theatre will bring this controversial masterpiece of world theatre to Adelaide audiences this winter. 

Ghosts follows the story of Mrs Helene Alving, a rich widow, as she prepares to open an orphanage in memory of her late husband. Her artist son Oswald’s return from Paris summons ghosts of the past that she has desperately tried to suppress. During the course of a single day, slowly and mercilessly, the secrets and lies of their isolated country town are stripped bare. 

Ibsen has been called "the father of modern drama".  A champion of the rights of women in marriage and society – in Ghosts and other plays – he touched on many taboo subjects of the time, most of them still pertinent today.  Public uproar saw Ghosts banned in many countries. 

While Ibsen’s language and themes are not quite so shocking today, Croser promises that his production will still intrigue audiences, with its thriller-like exposé of the damage caused to individuals and communities by the rigid conformity to outdated social rules. 

“Ibsen’s themes are still remarkably relevant,” Croser says. “We all need to liberate ourselves from the spirits of the past or suffer the consequences! The cast embrace Ibsen’s wonderful characters with vigour. We can’t wait to share it with Adelaide”. 

Some of the world’s biggest stars have shone in the play including, memorably, Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh in the 1987 BBC television adaption. The translation being used in this production is Richard Eyre's for London's Almeida Theatre in 2013, and which starred Lesley Manville.  Performed in Adelaide’s intimate Star Theatre 2, the production will feature Lyn Wilson, Eddie Sims, David Roach, Chris Duncan and Sophie Livingston-Pearce.

Ghosts follows hard on the heels of Independent Theatre's brilliant success with The Corn is Green in April.  It is the second production of the company's magnificent 40th anniversary season, which features an exquisite selection of 19th and 20th century classics. 

Ghosts opens on Friday, 16 June and runs through to Saturday, 1 July. It runs for 90 minutes, with no interval.