Ghosts Henrik ibsen
adapted by morris panych
artist note: “Two strains of sentiment inform Ibsen’s being. There is the need to escape the dark constraints in the environment in which he had been bred, and the complementary impulse to enter and embrace the bright realm of freedom.” – Harold Clurman I was in New York at the end of June. It had been a particularly dark year for me – death in the family, an illness of a loved one with daily trips to the hospital, the end of a long-term relationship and a hard winter of deep personal challenges on many fronts. The first few days I wandered the streets in a fog. Hours and hours of endless walking. It was as if I was walking off steam that had been accumulating, building up and stored for months. I didn’t eat, hardly slept, just walked. Then slowly the weight lifted and a light lit up inside me. New hope, possibility of freedom, rediscovery of a life force… “The only thing I care about liberty is the struggle for it. I care nothing for the possession of it.” – ibsen …And then the anxiety came over me. I have to go home. Of course I feel new hope – I’m in a new place, living a pretend life. I have no responsibility here. No duty. No history. I can be what I want. How can I keep this light burning, this life force, this clarity of thought and intention and enter back into my old life? In this way Ibsen in Ghosts throws us into a dark haunted house with five humans battling their demons, scratching and fighting in their own way for freedom and light. He gives us their struggles (some victory, some defeat) and in the end leaves us with a profoundly real and human proposal. After the doors have been burst open, the curtains pulled away so that the light can shine in – life must go on. The consequences of liberty and light can be just as challenging as the struggle for them. Hedda Gabler ends it, Nora walks away from it but Mrs. Alving must live with it. I think that is what makes this play so devastatingly vital. Working on Ghosts with this incredible team of generous, rigorous and fiercely intelligent artists is a dream come true for me. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and hope that this story touches you.
Gregory Prest, Oswald Alving in Ghosts