Ghosts

Summary

1951 BBC studio production of Ibsen’s drama Ghosts.

Theatre play

Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) [more information]

Play synopsis

'Ghosts is a scathing commentary on 19th-century morality. [...] Helen Alving is about to dedicate an orphanage she has built in the memory of her dead husband, Captain Alving. She reveals to her spiritual advisor, Pastor Manders, that she has hidden the evils of her marriage, and has built the orphanage to deplete her husband’s wealth so that their son, Oswald, might not inherit anything from him. Pastor Manders had previously advised her to return to her husband despite his philandering, and she followed his advice in the belief that her love for her husband would eventually reform him. However her husband’s philandering continued until his death, and Mrs. Alving was unable to leave him prior for fear of being shunned by the community. During the action of the play she discovers that her son Oswald (whom she had sent away so that he would not be corrupted by his father) is suffering from inherited syphilis, and (worse) has fallen in love with Regina Engstrand, Mrs. Alving’s maid, who is revealed to be an illegitimate daughter of Captain Alving, and thereby Oswald’s own half-sister. The play concludes with Mrs. Alving having to decide whether or not to euthanize her son Oswald in accordance with his wishes. Her choice is left unknown’ (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_%28play%29).

Production history

Written in 1881 and first performed in the following year.

Date of transmission

Sunday 18 March 1951

Time

8.30-10.30pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producers

Dallas Bower (1907-1999), Val Gielgud

Playwright

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)

Translator

Norman Ginsbury (1902-1991)

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Joan Heal	Regina
Cathleen Nesbitt	Mrs Alving
Andrew Osborn	Oswald
Edward Rigby	Engstrand
Ronald Simpson	Pastor Manders

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 7.30pm on Thursday 22 March 1951.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

19th-century setting; adultery / infidelity; marriage; Norwegian drama

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 16 March 1951 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, and article by Lionel Hale, ‘Ibsen, the Moral Reformer’, p. 44