The full cast and creative team has been confirmed for Royal & Derngate’s world premiere production of a brand new version by Mike Poulton of Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece Ghosts, opening in Northampton in April. The cast will be led by Penny Downie, James Wilby, Declan Conlon and Pierro Niel-Mee, and the play is directed by Lucy Bailey with Mike Britton as designer, Oliver Fenwick as lighting designer and Richard Hammarton as sound designer and composer.
A shattering story of the consequences of secrets and lies, Ibsen’s Ghosts is a damning comment on the morality and hypocrisy of 19th century life and this searing new version asks if much has changed since it was written over 100 years ago.
Constrained for years by societal expectations, widow Helen Alving is determined to escape the ghosts of her past but when her son Osvald returns home it is clear that some legacies are impossible to avoid. With secrets kept and lies told, the ghosts of her husband’s actions demand bigger sacrifices now than ever before.
As previously announced, Helen will be played by Penny Downie, whose extensive stage and television credits include Hamlet in the West End and ITV’s Downton Abbey. She is joined in the cast by James Wilby, as Pastor Manders. James’ extensive stage credits include work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Lyric Hammersmith and his screen credits include leading roles in Poldark, Maurice, Gosford Park, Howards End, Regeneration and A Handful of Dust.
Ghosts can be seen at Royal & Derngate from Friday 19 April till Saturday 11 May.
