GHOSTS or Those Who Return



By Henrik Ibsen, in a new version by Rebecca Lenkiewicz


Do the sins of the father visit the son?
Does each man kill the thing he loves?


Mrs. Alving is ecstatic when her son Osvald returns to his Norwegian roots after years abroad. He comes back to celebrate the heroic memory of his dead father. Within days of his return Mrs. Alving is forced to unearth the past and the uncomfortable ghosts who refuse to be silenced.


Award winning playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz returns to the Arcola to give Ibsen’s language a modern twist in a new collaboration with ATC. This production brings fresh life to a timeless classic about how hard it is to protect those we love.


Ibsen deals with a subject that his public deemed indecent and shocking. The play provoked outrage and anger.  The playwright’s response was that he felt compelled to write it as an expose of the sexual hypocrisy prevalent in Victorian Society.


Rebecca Lenkiewicz returns to the Arcola after the critical and box office success of An Enemy Of The People last year.




Director Bijan Sheibani
Design Alex Eales
Lighting Jon Clark
Sound Emma Laxton
Assistant Director Rikki Henry


Cast Natasha Broomfield, Suzanne Burden, Jim Bywater, Paul Hickey, Harry Lloyd


Please Note: Due to unforseen circumstances Angus Wright will no longer be appearing in this production of Ghosts


Presented by Arcola Theatre and ATC
Supported by the Norwegian Embassy



Photo: © Marc Atkins / panoptika.net



Trailer by Many Hands Productions



There is undeniably a powerful sense of an ages-old ritual underscoring the action here, both in the writing and in Bijan Sheibani’s outstanding production.
The Evening Standard (The Brothers Size) ****

It’s psychologically subtle. It’s dramatically powerful. It’s well worth seeing.
The Times (The Brothers Size) ****

On Tuesday night, the audience rose to their feet at the end, but I was picking myself up off the floor, knocked for six by the vivid poetic muscularity of a play and a faultless production.
The Guardian (The Brothers Size) ****


ATC
ATC aims to make fresh, bold and ambitious new productions for as wide an audience as possible.
Since Bijan Sheibani joined ATC as Artistic Director in 2007 the company has toured internationally and throughout London and the UK with two shows; the Olivier Award winning production of Gone Too Far! with the Royal Court and the Olivier Award nominated production of The Brothers Size with the Young Vic that was also awarded Best International Production by the Association of Barcelona Critics in January 2009.


ATC combine their productions with SPIN OFF their Participation and Events Programme which was established last year in order for ATC to engage with new audiences through creating opportunities for people to get involved with the work.