"David Thacker directs with a welcome precision and a lightness of touch... a seamless and fluid translation.... Patrick Connellan’s set is a flexible thing of beauty...superb turns from [Oscar] Pearce and [Vanessa] Kirby... it is Margot Leicester’s Mrs Alving that engages the mind and tugs the heartstrings." WHAT'S ON STAGE Read more here...
"Erik Skuggevik’s sensitive, sinuous, almost Pinteresque translation of Ibsen’s original might well turn out to be the real star turn here. Good as these five actors are, they are the better for having dialogue to deliver that is both impassioned and utterly realistic...Olivier award-winning director David Thacker has surpassed even his recent achievements with Miller’s play. This spare, seamless production touches the raw nerve and might well be a definitive interpretation of Ibsen for our times." THE STAGE Read more here..."Ghosts is a rewarding play, a fascinating insight into Victorian morality and a reminder to us all that we don’t always know what is happening behind a seemingly happy façade. Well worth a visit." THE BOLTON NEWS Read more here...
"It is of historical interest but has dated beyond present day relevance, impossible really to surmount the script’s melodrama and make it believable, despite this being a very good try." CITYLIFE. Read more here...
"I don’t think I have ever seen anyone look as at home or relaxed on stage as Margot Leicester...Oscar Pearce’s bohemian Oswald makes an astonishing impact on his first entrance...and the character’s gradual decline through the play is deeply touching.The intimacy of the venue and the intensity of the piece...create a unique theatrical experience." UK THEATRE NET Read more here
"...slow-burning and assured new version... George Irving becomes the pious Pastor Manders, in a particularly subdued and almost sympathetic styling... Margot Leicester is a hugely-convincing Mrs Alving... Oscar Pearce... another intensely-moving portrayal from this talented actor." LANCASHIRE EVENING POST Read mere here...
"Norwegian drama Ghosts is dark, haunting - and hugely rewarding ****" DAILY MAIL Read more here...
"It maintains its grip largely because of Margot Leicester's compelling portrayal of Mrs Alving...Oscar Pearce's nervily bright Oswald generates an intensity clouded with apprehension and fear as the darkness of his illness takes its awful hold while, as Regina, Vanessa Kirkby convincingly swaps ambition for righteous indignation. Patrick Connellan's set conveys the stultifying atmosphere of Mrs Alving's isolation, the transparent floor suggesting the fragile surface and shadowy depths of a family life built on secrets and lies." THE INDEPENDENT Read more here...
"It maintains its grip largely because of Margot Leicester's compelling portrayal of Mrs Alving...Oscar Pearce's nervily bright Oswald generates an intensity clouded with apprehension and fear as the darkness of his illness takes its awful hold while, as Regina, Vanessa Kirkby convincingly swaps ambition for righteous indignation. Patrick Connellan's set conveys the stultifying atmosphere of Mrs Alving's isolation, the transparent floor suggesting the fragile surface and shadowy depths of a family life built on secrets and lies." THE INDEPENDENT Read more here...
"David Thacker’s being cunning as new Artistic Director at the Octagon, stamping his identity on the stage with two of his recognised strong points...There's good work from Vanessa Kirby (never overdoing the self-seeking) and Russell Richardson. Yet Margot Leicester’s Helena Alving is the production’s heart." REVIEWSGATE Read more here...
Further reviews...
Further reviews...
THE GUARDIAN Read more here
BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE Read more here
The PUBLIC REVIEWS Read more here
