Ghosts
Closing: May 10, 2025Ghosts - 2025 West End History , Info & More
Lyric Hammersmith
King Street London
“When you spend your life in thrall to a monster you find yourself trying to make monstrous
things somehow bearable.”
Helena is a woman on a mission. Since the death of her high-flying husband, she has dedicated herself to reclaiming his legacy. And her hard work is about to pay off, with a new children’s hospital bearing his name on the brink of opening.
But when their son Oz returns to the family home for the grand unveiling, he has ambitions
of his own. Ambitions that threaten to unravel their family’s most tightly kept secrets.
Gary Owen’s new play, a contemporary reimagining of Ibsen’s classic, is directed by Artistic
Director Rachel O’Riordan, reuniting the team behind the critically acclaimed Iphigenia in
Splott, Romeo and Julie and Killology.
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Ghosts
Gasps and laughter greet this modern revamp of Ibsen’s shocker
10 / 10
Ghosts exemplifies Ibsen’s creed that the key events of a play take place before it starts: everyone is either hiding, or having hidden, something from them. The actors grippingly chart the negotiation of these secrets and suspicions. Victoria Smurfit’s Helena shows how the greater agency of a modern Mrs Alving has not prevented moral compromises but also allows her contemporary solutions. Callum Scott Howells as Oz is sassy, sarcastic but ecstatic at the prospect even of dangerous love.
Victoria Smurfit is utterly gripping
8 / 10
The production reunites Owen with director Rachel O’Riordan after their harrowing 2022 Iphigenia in Splott, and a similarly queasy sense of gnawing discomfort permeates this piece. Here, themes of generational trauma and the experiences of abuse survivors come to the fore. Owen’s revised, contemporary-language dialogue feels on-the-nose at times. Yet there is an appealing thread of pitch-black humour running through the text. As the story unfolds, Owen constantly shifts blame and judgement, and highlights potentially exonerating contextual details between the characters. Each horrible new revelation is quickly refuted by a sharp counter argument, as Owen unflinchingly examines all sides of every contentious topic.
by Aliya Al-Hassan - April 17, 2025
Gary Owen’s new play, a contemporary reimagining of Ibsen’s classic, is directed by Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan, reuniting the team behind the critically acclaimed Iphigenia in Splott, Romeo and Julie and Killology.
by Cindy Marcolina - April 17, 2025
Victoria Smurfit and Callum Scott Howells are the tragic mother-son duo in an exciting, tense, suspenseful adaptation. Owen shifts the script and makes this classic all about domestic abuse and the power of upper-class disdain. Rachel O’Riordan’s production is a masterclass in distilling tension and concentrating it without frills or games. It’s an emotionally challenging experience, pure theatre.
Ghosts History
Other Productions of Ghosts
| 1894 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1903 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1912 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1915 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1916 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1919 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1923 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1926 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1927 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1933 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1935 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1937 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1948 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1973 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1975 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1982 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1988 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2002 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2010 | West End |
London Production West End |
| 2013 | West End |
West End Revival West End |
| 2015 | Off-Broadway |
Brooklyn Academy of Music Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
| 2025 | Off-Broadway |
Lincoln Center Theater Off-Broadway |
| 2025 | West End |
West End |
Videos