Theater Reviews

Oct 4, 1999 - Bruka Opens Its Season with an Impressive "Ghosts"

By Jack Neal

The Bruka Theater Company has gotten its season of classic plays and one classic musical off to an impressive start. Ibsen's "Ghosts," not an easy mark for success, came off smoothly. and - given a little space for its semi-professional cast - compellingly.

The production has been directed by Reno's brothers Grimm, Bob and Michael, and has none of the split-personality entanglements one might expect to find when duo directors set about imposing their wills on a challenging play by a playwright who likes to challenge. It's my guess that at least some of the players in this show might also have minds of their own. That that's true is handsomely illustrated by the resonance of performances given by many in the cast.

The play itself has always seemed a but flawed. The premise of Osvald's "condition" and the explanation for how he got it rings hollow at this end of the millennium. Other than that, about two-thirds of the play is exposition, with most of the third act being a frenetic fast forward into what the play is really about. And that is - the sins of fathers wreck havoc on their sons, not to mention the omissions of mothers.

Since Osvald's father is only talked about, it's the young man's mother who is at the play's center. In the case of this production, it's a good thing, too. Mary Bennett, a more than able and often exciting actress, anchors the play with a memorable performance. Her Helene Alving is never overplayed, yet she propels this constantly brewing collection of sad characters with a simmering anger, deeply held love and abiding bitterness that reveal slowly and surely the psychological threads of shock Ibsen uses as a device to fan the flames of thought. Bennett's performance unlocks the power in Ibsen's words (the program does not indicate whose translation is being used) and make it clear why he was the 19th century playwright for firebrands and other progressives.

Miss Bennett's performance is not alone in the simmering department. Bob Grimm is a menacing and disagreeable Engstrand. The presumed father of Regina, the flowering young woman Mrs. Alving has rescued from his less than scrupulous clutches, Grimm gives Engstrand the sleazy personality of a pimp willing to sell his daughter into white slavery. Given the strong undertow of his characterization, neither Grimm, nor Engstrand are likely to be crowned father of the year. As Regina, the daughter, Annie Woods has the thankless task of breathing life into the play's least vibrant personality. Miss Woods makes the most of it, resists merely pouting, and lets go in her closing scene with a display of disgust that puts considerable spine into what Regina's about.

As Pastor Manders, the weak Christian theologian who pontificates his way through the play, Alan Maki gives it the old College of Cardinal's try but misses conveying the weakness of the flesh that makes what the good reverend says and does smell of hypocracy. Mr. Maki is, nonetheless, a reasonably solid, if not overly distinguished Pastor Mander.

In the troublesome role of Osvald, Ryan Charlton is stalwart in his management of the part without ever stepping beyond superficiality and delving into the deeper anguishes of this young man. Mr. Charlton's is a good performance but not one of baring revelation that would make what has happened to Osvald a moving experience for the audience, who then watches Ibsen's private conversations between mother and son without grief and a profound sense of loss.

The technical aspects of the production are good and are brought off without a hitch. Lighting, sound, costumes - all are first-rate. Beyond satisfactory to excellent performances, the play is worth seeing for the sheer mechanical perfection of Ibsen's script, in which there is not one word that does not advance the plot, nor any stretch of its long exposition that doesn't tingle with emotional intensity.

"Ghosts" plays Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through October 23, at the Bruka Theatre of the Sierras, 99 North Virginia Street, Reno. For information call 775 323 3221.