# Hendryk Ibsen's "GHOSTS"-Still Relevant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendryk-ibsens-ghosts-still-relevant/431928 "2008-01-01T22:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendryk-ibsens-ghosts-still-relevant/431928/1 "2008-01-01T22:26:57Z")
I saw this play many years ago, and wonder if it gets performed much these days. I thought it was a bit dated, having been wriiten in Victorian times. It is a very well written play, but is it still relevant? Where would you go to see a recent version performed? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendryk-ibsens-ghosts-still-relevant/431928/2 "2008-01-02T01:27:37Z")
There was a performance in San Francisco a few years ago. I don’t know of any current productions. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendryk-ibsens-ghosts-still-relevant/431928/3 "2008-01-02T02:04:33Z")
Of course it’s still relevant! Otherwise, no one is going to understand the reference when I say, as I do periodically, “The sun! The sun!” (OK, they don’t get it anyway, but maybe it’s the crowd I run with.) If you look at certain plot elements, it does seem very dated. Congenital syphilis ain’t what it used to be. On the other hand, the main theme in the play is evergreen – the consequences of being pressured to conform to society’s expectations. A good director can do amazing things with an old warhorse like “Ghosts” – and I don’t mean something gimmicky like setting it in the 1950s (although that might work for “Ghosts”! I don’t like Ian McKellen all that much, but his “Richard III” is brilliant.) So, yes, I’d go see a production of it, if it was by a company I respected. In all my theater history classes, I was taught that Chekhov’s plays were comedies. I read them and thought “WTF???” Then, 10 years later, I saw a production of “The Seagull” by a director and company of actors that got it, and they showed me the humor in it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendryk-ibsens-ghosts-still-relevant/431928/4 "2008-01-02T19:05:44Z")
**Henrik** Ibsen, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendryk-ibsens-ghosts-still-relevant/431928/5 "2008-01-03T01:31:15Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] Of course it’s still relevant! Otherwise, no one is going to understand the reference when I say, as I do periodically, “The sun! The sun!” (OK, they don’t get it anyway, but maybe it’s the crowd I run with.) If you look at certain plot elements, it does seem very dated. Congenital syphilis ain’t what it used to be. On the other hand, the main theme in the play is evergreen – the consequences of being pressured to conform to society’s expectations. A good director can do amazing things with an old warhorse like “Ghosts” – and I don’t mean something gimmicky like setting it in the 1950s (although that might work for “Ghosts”! I don’t like Ian McKellen all that much, but his “Richard III” is brilliant.) So, yes, I’d go see a production of it, if it was by a company I respected. In all my theater history classes, I was taught that Chekhov’s plays were comedies. I read them and thought “WTF???” Then, 10 years later, I saw a production of “The Seagull” by a director and company of actors that got it, and they showed me the humor in it. [/QUOTE] Have you seen “A DOLL’S HOUSE” or “HEDDA GABLER”? I fing Ibsen very interesting-but I hardly ever see any of his works performed today\> ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hendryk-ibsens-ghosts-still-relevant/431928/6 "2008-01-03T02:28:59Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Have you seen “A DOLL’S HOUSE” or “HEDDA GABLER”? I fing Ibsen very interesting-but I hardly ever see any of his works performed today\> [/QUOTE] I’ve seen productions of both – but it was years ago. I think playwrights go in and out of vogue, and Ibsen may be on an “out” cycle right now.