Photos: First Look at GHOSTS at Seattle Rep

This spring, Seattle Rep will produce Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, in a new translation by Paul Walsh. Directed by Carey Perloff, featuring Academy Award-nominated actor David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck; A League of Their Own; Nomadland), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Scarface), and Thom Sesma (Broadway: The Lion King).

Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts is perhaps his most vivid and controversial play. The story follows a mother caught between duty and desire and begs the question: how far should she go to protect her family? In Ibsen fashion, the play itself is a contemplative commentary on 19th-century morality that has been translated for the American contemporary theater. Of the play and its title's meaning, translator Paul Walsh said, "It means, that which goes again; that which returns. The ghosts of our past, all those things that we thought we had done away with-racism, sexism, homophobia-they all are returning now, and it's so relevant. That's how ghosts operate within this play and within our lives" (excerpt from a Williamstown Theatre Festival 2019 interview).

This new translation and subsequent production of Ghosts premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2019. Seattle Rep audiences may remember a 2021 virtual development experience via the Plays in Process series, which offered a glimpse into the creative process of adapting and refining this vibrant story. Of the new translation, Seattle Rep Artistic Director Braden Abraham said, "Paul Walsh is one of the foremost American translators of Henrik Ibsen's plays. Paul's exciting new translation of Ghosts faithfully delivers the play with the spontaneity of contemporary language. A great classic is always revealing itself and translation is a vital process to reinvigorate these works with fresh energy and relevancy."

Ghosts will be performed on the Bagley Wright stage through May 1, 2022; single tickets and digital access may be purchased online at http://SeattleRep.org, or by calling the Patron Services Office at 206.443.2224.