Ghosts, a classic social drama by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828 – 1906) is scheduled for three matinee performances by The Autumn Players of Asheville Community Theatre (ACT): Friday and Saturday, May 30 and 31 in 35below at ACT; Sunday, June 1 in the Manheimer Room at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center. Under the direction of Anita Chapman and in partnership with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, this is the fourth of five productions of the 2013-14 season of Readers Theatre Showcase. Curtain is at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $5 cash at the door.
In the 1880’s Norwegian audiences were scandalized by Ghosts. In England it was banned. Ibsen, ever critical of the life-lie, raises a provocative question in this play: When a society prescribes what is allowable in our behavior, what is really achieved by following the rules? Helene Alving, a woman who has outwardly conformed to the conventions of her time and devoted her life to keeping up appearances, finds herself haunted by the truth of the past when her artist son returns home with a mysterious illness.
Anita Chapman has directed several concert-style readings for The Autumn Players: The Trip to Bountiful, The Little Foxes, A Delicate Balance, and Uncle Vanya. She performed in A Man for all Seasons, The Heiress, and The Shadow Box. For the WNC Historical Association she directed a reading of Beneath Shelton Laurel. Recent Chair of The Autumn Players, Ms. Chapman was trained as a Dramaturg at the University of Amsterdam.
The Autumn Players is ACT’s volunteer outreach company consisting of almost 100 seasoned actors, directors, writers and event organizers dedicated to taking theater into the community. Since 1992 the company has provided entertainment, enrichment, and education for thousands of students, seniors, and in-betweens at venues within an hour or more from Asheville.
For more information or for a full schedule of the Readers Theatre Showcase series, please visit www.ashevilletheatre.org.