On the face of it, local councillor Helen Alving’s financial support for the creation of a Childhood Trust and the donation of her ‘big house’ to the Council to create a new looked-after children’s facility seems to be a magnanimously benevolent gesture to honour her late husband, the Captain. Read more …
With the unexpected arrival of her son Oswald 'from abroad’ however, Helen’s carefully constructed reality is torn apart, and the ghosts from their tormented past manifest grotesquely in shocking revelations of political corruption and abuse.
Megan Barker’s dark and gripping adaptation of the Ibsen classic exposes a litany of terrible secrets and the incontrovertible damage these have caused.
It fails to ever really ignite. Ibsen—and Tron audiences—deserve much, much better.
This remains a brave and interesting experiment with Ibsen's narrative.
A damningly prescient indictment of everyday corruption.
It’s visually impressive, but the inelegantly crafted adaptation muddies its themes and makes for a disappointing theatrical experience.
In the end, instead of revitalising Ibsen’s themes, this ill-judged reboot renders the whole scenario absurd, leaving you nostalgic for the restraint of the original.
It’s unsettling stuff, even if it overloads the play with backstory and pushes it towards melodrama.
Uneven though it is, however, Barker’s clever and sensitive take on Ibsen’s classic offers a rewarding evening’s theatre.
Megan Barker--Ghosts
Tron Theatre, Glasgow from Wednesday October 7, 2015, until Saturday October 24, 2015. More info: www.tron.co.uk
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