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A&E

 

Ghosts
Oct 17

Vancouver Playhouse

review by Kim

If you can remember, Oct 17 was a
very dark, rainy evening. The perfect
pre-setting for Ghosts. On arriving at
the Playhouse and heading towards
our seats, we had noticed a few local
actors, and a packed lobby. We entered
the theatre, an isolated chair stood
beneath a spot light, in front of a black
curtain, hiding the main stage. As soon
as a light from behind the black
curtain appeared, the audience was
silenced. A young girl was tidying up
the main room, and to the left, a tiny
bedroom with a man on a bed, back to
the audience. The curtain was raised,
revealing the beautifully designed set.
Huge, dark wooden doors at the back
of the somber room. The setting was
Norway, 1800s.

An old man entered the room and
tried to get the girl, Regina (his
daughter) to go back with him. Regina
had been employed by Mrs Alving,
(brilliantly played by Susan Cox) at
the house for a long time, and had no
intention of going with her father. We
meet the man from the left room,
Oswald Alvian, who is sick and was
hoping being holme would make him

  
  
  
 
 
 
  
 
 

opa&e@siwash.be.ca

well again. We meet his mother, and
pastor Manders.

The pastor is a humourous character
right from the start. Being a man of
God, means being a man of faith.
Pastor Manders put faith into a man’s
word without formulating a judgement
for himself. For example, early into
the performance, a conversation about
the books on Ms. Alvian’s table strikes
up. Pastor Manders tries to explain
how disgusting the books are, yet he’d
never even looked at them, content
wise. Instead, he trusted the word of
others. Another example occurs when
the topic of buying insurance for an
orphanage arises. Pastor Manders
didn’t think purchasing insurance was
a wise move. He didn’t think it would
look good in the eyes of investors,
putting insurance on an establishment
that would be protected by God.

Ghosts is a story of struggles, a
woman’s struggles and the compla-
cency she forces herself to hide under.

Ghosts is playing at the Vancouver
Playhouse until November 9. Call 280-
4444 for tickets.

   
  
 
   
  

  
 
 
  
 
  

and crew of

the Dead molded

ther a modern presentation of

ofror with the memory of a Vancou-

ver occurrence from the 1920s.
Brilliantly done with mirrors and
projections throughout the play, the
kaleidoscope approach definitely gave
it the ‘modern’ in the phrase modern
horror.

   
  
 

However, the play certa’
authenticity and antiquity. Using the
class system of the time, the wealthy
British couple moved to Canada and
brought with them their Scottish maid.
Some say that. Janet was murdered,
since the gun shot to her head had
different results than if it was done by
Janet herself. Some say that Janet
killed herself, but various pieces of
evidence almost proved otherwise.
Between the two possibilities, the
audience couldn’t tell what really
happened.

Directed by Sandhan
_ Schultze and Wayne
Specht, Disposing of the
Dead runs until Novem-
ber 2 at the Waterfront
Theatre on Granville
Island. Special discounts —
apply for students; 8
information and tickets
may be obtained by
calling the box office at _
685-6217 or Ticket
Master at 280-3311,

 

 

 

 

info@siwas

 

 

 

 

14 October 29 1996 The Other Press