‘Ghosts’ Review: Lincoln Center’s Streamlined, Spectral Ibsen
7 / 10
The cast is deluxe for an off-Broadway production. Billy Crudup portrays Pastor Manders, the estranged friend of Mrs. Alving who as the play begins has come to make a rare visit to her estate, bringing documents that need to be signed before the opening of the orphanage Mrs. Alving is funding. Mr. Crudup’s handsome magnetism and the casual warmth he brings to the role are distinct assets, making Mrs. Alving’s fondness for him credible—the fondness might once have led to something more—despite his frequent retreats into pious sternness or shock when he takes stock of her radical reading tastes.
