Angela Littleton and Stephen Forrest

One of the plot points is that Oswald Alving, in his twenties, has a terminal brain condition that he inherited from his father (we are never told what the father died of, just that he was dissolute and unfaithful). The only clues as to what this illness is are that it has caused softening of the brain and that Oswald has been "worm-eaten" (he uses the word vermoulu, which is what his doctor in Paris told him) since birth and that "the sins of the father are visited upon the children." My own guess would have been one of those inherited degenerative neurological diseases that manifest in adulthood, the best known being Huntington's disease (the one that Woody Guthrie had).

In fact, Ibsen is wrong about this type of syphilis being inherited from the father. It's possible that the father infects the mother, and then the baby might have congenital syphilis; however, the symptoms would show up much earlier than they do in Oswald. But I guess we can cut Ibsen some slack, considering that he's one of the founding fathers of modern theater and probably intended the disease to be more a symbol than a medical fact. (I wonder if we can hold Ibsen responsible for inventing the modern "inconclusive ending." This device, which has shown up in a thousand plays and movies and New Yorker stories, might have made its first appearance in Ghosts.)

Syphilis was not the only scandalous thing in Ghosts. There's also adultery, illegitimacy, the desire of a father to prostitute his "daughter," the willingness of a mother to let two half-siblings get married, religious hypocrisy, and possibly some Freudian mother-son stuff. But not much of this is shocking anymore, since you can see it on almost any soap opera nowadays. (Well, maybe not the incest part.)

So how does Ghosts hold up in our time? I found it a little too blabby for my attention span. The characters talk and talk, but only occasionally drop some salient insinuendo (I know that's not a standard word, but it should be) that advances the plot. To sit through the first two acts without a break is a bit of an ordeal.

The third act moves more quickly, but what was probably innovative drama in Ibsen's day comes off now as melodrama. Or maybe it only seems that way because of the acting in this production. These are supposed to be uptight Norwegians who hold their emotions in until they just can't control them anymore, but much of the acting is overly demonstrative all the way through.

The fact that the production is done in an arena staging in a small room, where the audience sits almost literally in the Alving's living room, just a couple feet away from the actors, means that they could have been quite reserved and we would still have easily been able to see the subtlest facial expressions and gestures. But there's not much subtlety in play here. Probably they were directed that way by Douglas Garland, to try to punch up a play that is essentially static. I don't think it works in Scandinavian climes.

Maybe we can excuse Stephen Forrest's emoting, since he's supposed to be losing his mind. Angela Littleton is a wonderful actor in the right role, but I don't think Mrs. Alving suits her so well, and that has nothing to do with the fact that she's African-American. She's too open an actor for this part. Kamila Kastorian does a good job as Regina, the housemaid who is really a member of the family, and I feel that she gets cheated out of a juicy acting opportunity because Ibsen gives her character short shrift in the big revelation scene near the end. David Bommarito seems too nice a guy to be the weasely meretricious alcoholic workingman Engstrand. Mario Cabrera inhabits his character perfectly, though, as Pastor Mandera, using a pinched voice and rigid posture that one would expect of a cleric obsessively concerned with what public opinion will say about him.

Despite some reservations, I think this production is worth seeing. Any of the later Ibsen plays is important in the history of the theater. Even though Ghosts is 130 years old and syphilis is not the scourge it once was, the play's themes and the way the characters behave are not all that far removed from contemporary America. And you aren't likely to get a more intimate theatrical experience than this one.

Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Douglas Garland, is being presented in the X Space of the Aux Dog Theatre Nob Hill, 3011 Monte Vista NE in Albuquerque. Through February 22, 2015. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00, Sundays at 2:00. Info at www.auxdog.com or 505-254-7716.

Photo: VJ Liberatori

--Dean Yannias