Play: Ghosts

Flew back to London last night - on Ryanair, because the time wasn't too late, for once. As I left Stansted, on the Stansted Express, it occurred to me that it's been an age since I was last on it! Since Christmas, I've either been flying to Heathrow, or I do remember flying by Stansted once, but the Stansted Express was out of order. Anyway, I caught a bus almost straight away, and was home by midnight. Result..!

Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Ghosts, a contemporary reimagining of the play by Ibsen, at the Lyric Hammersmith. Stars Victoria Smurfit as the mother. Tube it was, of course - and one fellow was most disappointed I wouldn't let him surrender his seat: but well, I was changing soon! Now, if it'd been the longer leg.. Anyway, I got a seat for that one. The fellow I tend to eat with beforehand when we're going to the same play joined me again this evening, and we headed for The William Morris (Hammersmith) - right across from the theatre, and being a Wetherspoon's, cheap.

The name, BTW, is that of a famous designer - and indeed, the carpet pattern is modelled on his designs. It was pretty busy, but we got a table - ordered on the app, both had the katsu chicken curry, being fans of it. A glass of wine each, and the wine + main cost less than I'm used to paying for a glass of wine on its own. Very quickly served, too. I have to say, my chicken was very succulent - the sauce was a bit bland on this occasion, but it was fine, the chicken was lovely, the wine was good, and I was well fed.

And so, across to the theatre, and up all those stairs to the lobby bar, where you could hardly miss the others - not if you knew anyone coming, at least. It was a fairly large group, occupying prime standing space near the entrance. I was served at the bar again pretty quickly - the wine was medicinal, I'll have you know! I've had a niggling cough for some days now - had a 10-minute coughing fit at The Amateur, and nearly left except it was getting to the good bit - and so I'd already armed myself with a packet of Soothers (already half used). I tell you, it took two glasses of wine, and most of that pack, to sit on my cough for the full evening.. To be fair, the second glass came from a can, which was all they have for wine in the Stalls Bar, upstairs, and isn't as large as a standard large glass..

And I'm glad, because this is quite gripping throughout, and I'd have hated to miss anything. A bare stage, decorated with pictures of the back of a man's head on the wall: a couch: a side table that doubles as a minibar. A door on either side. The wall at the back is glass, with some swirling, gaseous material on the other side - supposed to be low cloud cover, wherever this is set. Interestingly, from time to time - coming back from the interval, for instance - I caught sight of the reflection of the audience in the glass, and wondered whether that was another form of ghost..

But the ghost in this is the father who's passed away, and after whom his widow wants to name the children's hospital (orphanage in the original, but of course they're not such a thing any more) that she's been working hard with a charitable trust to build. She breezes on, presenting an indomitable figure - certainly, her son doesn't have much time for her, blames her for packing him off to boarding school. There's also the daughter of a local tradesman, who works for the trust, and whose now-deceased mother also worked for this rich lady's late husband. And one of the trustees has dropped by for a chat..

What the evening reveals is quite startling - as it was in the original. And it's all to do with the dead man. In the original, he had syphilis, which he seems to have passed on to his son - back in the day, it was anathema to speak about STDs. In this - as we agreed, afterwards - excellent rewrite, they haven't just changed some names to suit a more international audience, changed the orphanage to be a children's hospital, and put the characters in modern outfits - no, they've also considered what it was that was so controversial about the original, and rewritten it to be equally startling to a modern audience.

The incest was actually in the original. But, with all the action having taken place by the interval, the second half is left free for the fallout, and for a much-needed discussion of the themes that are raised. I didn't have much of a look at the trigger warning on the way in - I never do - but with domestic abuse, and a very contentious debate that rages over the nature of consent.. not to mention suicide.. there's a lot to discuss. A highly topical play then, as it happens - and certainly not falling foul of the criticism of so many plays that don't allot much time to discussion of the issues raised. Got a standing ovation, too. Rather an excellent play, a particularly sensitive rewrite of the original. With the same creative team behind the terrific Iphigenia in Splott (which also played here), hardly a surprise. Runs to the 10th - highly recommended.

Tube home as well, much quieter, of course - and wouldn't you know it, on the final walk home, the overnight rain caught up with me..

Tomorrow, I'm going to Tallis Lamentations for Holy Week by Tenebrae, at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. 

On Wednesday, I booked with London Literary Walks for The Fitzroy Square Walk - and wouldn't you know it, they're meeting in The Greene Man, which is my go-to for food around the area..! But then.. well, in Darkfield, the only show I haven't been to is Visitors - which, as well as being solely for couples, was completely sold out. However.. due to popular demand, they extended the run to Thursday - and a member of The Hideout agreed to be my +1 for Visitors, saying it sounded interesting! Wednesday was the day he suggested, though.. and all the early shows were already sold out! So we're going to the 7.30 show, and I had to cancel the walk. (All Visitors shows are now completely sold out.) We're heading to The Blues Kitchen for food beforehand.

And on Thursday, I'm flying back to Ireland for a short Easter break - back in London next Monday evening..