Ghosts, Penfold Theatre Company and Breaking String Theatre Company at Hyde Park Theatre, October 13 - November 5 (ALT Review 1)

by Hannah Bisewski

Penfold Theatre Company and the Breaking String Theater joined forces to stage Ghosts, producing a well considered work that breathes a fresh vitality into a familiar story. Revolutionary reevaluation of old convention is precisely the theme of Ghosts.

Settling into their seats in the cramped, angular space of the Hyde Park Theatre, the audience sees a dusty, dirty, though elegant, Victorian-era living room. A dim chandelier hangs from a cobweb-lined ceiling. Given the play’s title, an uninformed audience member could reasonably guess that the cast will present a horror story.

Attractive young housemaid Regina Engstrand enters to clean the room, only to be interrupted by her scheming unwelcome father.One has no idea how entangled even the maid is in this family’s self-destructive legacy. Only during the confrontational conversation between the house’s matriarch Helene Alving and the family pastor, Manders, prompted by estate affairs following Captain Alving’s death, do the family secrets begin to spill forth. There are many, further complicated by Helene’s attempt to keep Osvald, her recently returned only son, from discovering any of them.

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Upcoming: Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen, Penfold Theatre at Hyde Park Theatre, October 13 - November 5

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Ghosts

by Henrik Ibsen
Adapted and directed by Graham Schmidt
Co-produced with Breaking String Theatre
Classic drama
Running time: About 2 hours 15 minutes, with one intermission.
Content advisory: For mature audiences.

October 13 - November 5, 2011
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm. Sunday, November 5 at 2:00pm.

Hyde Park Theatre (Map it) 511 West 43rd Street

A special reception will follow the show on opening night.$20 Regular, $18 Students / seniors, $25 Opening night.Tickets go on sale later this season. For more information, call (512) 850-4849 or email us at info@penfoldtheatre.org.

Yesterday's secrets return to haunt you. Tomorrow, a new orphanage will be dedicated in honor of the late Captain Alving, but his widow is tormented by the ghosts of family secrets. Keeping these secrets may prove an impossible burden, but exposing them could spell ruin for the entire family. This classic masterpiece of modern drama features Babs George is produced in partnership with Breaking String Theatre.