By Charlene Baldridge
SDUN Theatre Critic

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) loved setting Victorians on their ears by exposing the hypocrisy of their mores and institutions. Among other denouncements of Ibsen’s 1881 “Ghosts” – currently seen through May 2 in a world premiere translation at North Coast Repertory Theatre – it was described as “a dirty deed done in public.”

Ibsen’s dirty deed concerns Mrs. Alving (Rosina Reynolds), a wealthy widow who for 20 years has hidden her husband’s lifelong philandering. In the opening scene she signs documents concerning Captain Alving’s memorial, an orphanage to be dedicated the following day. In truth she has spent the entire amount left to her in Alving’s estate so that her son, Osvald (an extraordinary performance by Richard Baird), will inherit nothing from his late father. She does not know that Osvald, an artist, has inherited congenital syphilis and has returned home to die.

Osvald is attracted to his mother’s beautiful servant, Regina Engstrand (Aimee Burdette). Amy’s father (Jonathan McMurtry), a carpenter, built and landscaped the orphanage and has saved up a substantial sum with which he intends to open a “home for wayward sailors” – in truth, a saloon and lodgings. Engstrand expects Regina to help him run the establishment, but her ambitions include becoming Osvald’s wife.

Pastor Manders (John Herzog) represents the established church, among Victorian society’s oppressors of women. When Mrs. Alving fled the Captain following only one year of marriage, it was to Manders’ manse she fled. He, a proper Victorian, was perhaps more attracted to her than he admits, and sent her home to “do her duty” as a proper wife was expected to do.

With the exception of Osvald, all the characters fabricate stories to support their noble purposes. It’s a fascinating period piece; and moreover, it applies to today’s society, where information is still denied those who need it most.

Anne-Charlotte Harvey returned to the original Norwegian translation to effect what is called a “platform” translation, which presented textual alternatives and options to director David Ellenstein and his company, who chose diction and precise words according to their concept of the characters and their station. To theatergoers who are accustomed to older, perhaps stilted translations of Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg, the experience of the text requires a leap of faith. Some remain convinced matters theatrical still require a firmer arbiter if not a dictator.

Any production that features such a fine ensemble is worth attending. Baird is surely among the finest young classical actors in Southern California today. His work, as evidenced most recently as a heart-wrenching Caliban in Ellenstein’s production of “The Tempest,” is always intelligent and moving and under Ellenstein’s sure hand seems more keenly considered and controlled than ever. McMurtry’s work with Ellenstein and with Baird also grows exponentially. Burdette, who played Miranda to McMurtry’s Prospero in “The Tempest,” has great potential and is certainly lovely to hear and gaze upon. Reynolds shows her customary strength as the woman who seeks to control everything, and is ultimately faced with her own truth.

Set in 1881, the production delights the senses, with set by Marty Burnett, lighting by Matt Novotny, costumes by Jennifer Brawn Gittings and sound by Chris Luessmann.

“Ghosts”
Through May 2
7 p.m. select Wednesdays
8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays
2 and 7 p.m. Sundays
2 p.m. select Saturdays
North Coast Repertory Theatre
987-D Lomas Santa Fe Drive
Solana Beach
northcoastrep.org
(858) 481-1055