LA Splash - Highly Recommended
"...Fans of Ibsen's plays will certainly enjoy seeing this adapted version. They may be left to wonder what secrets are hidden behind facades presented by some of their family and friends. GHOSTS is nothing less than thought provoking, a fascinating study of a family in chaos."
ArtsBeatLA - Recommended
"...This adaptation by acclaimed British director Richard Eyre is making its L.A. premiere and features an updated translation, notably with a few instances of profane language, which I took to be the contemporary equivalent of Ibsen's original text. Nevertheless, the production manages to retain its period sensibilities as well as its present-day relevance with a pleasing sense of balance. Additionally, the play's three acts have been condensed into a 90-minute play with three distinct chapters. Much of the fat has been removed, permitting the crucial plot points and intense scenes to feature."
Total Theater - Highly Recommended
"...Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts was a cause celebre in 1882 when it was first performed. Not only did the Norwegian establishment find its attack on the bourgeois and religious constraints of the age outrageous, it was shocked by the notion that venereal disease--specifically syphilis--could be mentioned in polite society."
Showmag - Recommended
"...After more than 100 years, few remember that Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts received its first production, not in his native Scandinavia, but in the United States. In the 1880s, the subjects of infidelity, incest, syphilis, and euthanasia were taboo subjects. And after all this time, the play is still as fraught as it was scandalous when it opened."
Stage Raw - Somewhat Recommended
"...While Ibsen's themes remain relevant, some of the plot points, like this one, are a bit creaky and contrived, even when softened by Eyre's more colloquial dialogue. This makes it extra important for the actors involved to deliver nuanced performances; a dazzling portrayal always helps suspend disbelief."
Ticket Holders LA - Highly Recommended
"...In the gifted hands of Bart DeLorenzo and his band of equally talented droogies, the great master's Ghosts comes around to haunt us again, leaving the audience spent and Gray, his leading lady, obviously ready to take a long nap."
Larchmont Buzz - Recommended
"...Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, recently opened at the Odyssey Theatre, is not performed as frequently as some of the father of modernism's other plays. It's bleak, with only occasional moments of humor and (misplaced) optimism. Its power comes from its crystallization of Ibsen's main themes: the shortcomings of marriage, the downside of heredity, the falseness of religion and the struggle of women to control their own destinies."
