Ibsen's 'Ghosts' at Trafalar Studios - a must see for every woman.

Ghosts was written by Henrik Ibsen when he was living in Rome between the spring and autumn of 1881. As it was in custom at the time play was first published in writing and almost straight away condemned for tackling subjects of: patriarchy, women's rights, class, sexual desire, religious bigotry and hypocrisy, incest, sexual transmitted disease (syphilis) and euthanasia, this led to play being banned in many European countries including England.

The main character of Ghosts is Helene Alving (Lesley Manville) a strong, inteligent woman who as a young girl was made to marry a drunk and debaucherous man, upon realising who her husband is she runs away to the man she loves-pastor Manders (Adam Kotz) but is rejected, so she goes back and devotes her life to keeping appearances of a happy marriage. To protect her son Oswald (Jack Lowden) from destructive influence of his immoral father Helene sends him away at the age of 7.
The play starts at a point when Helene is a widow and her son (now and adult and a well known painter) comes home unexpectedly just before the opening of a orphanage she is building to commemorate her late husband.

Richard Eyre's adaptation is absolutely amazing, according to his own words this version of Ghosts waited six years to make to the stage, he said  " I worked from a literal version by Charlotte Barslund and I tried to animate the language in a way that felt as true as possible to what I understood from them to be the authors intentions... But even literal translations make choices and choices we make are made according to taste, to the times we live and how we see the world." well to me the choices he made are definitely the right ones because the play truly moved me.

But the great adaptation is not enough you also have to have actors who can carry the weight of the really difficult subject stated in this play with truthfulness and force, fortunately the cast is absolutely fantastic. Lesley Manville gives a masterful performance, you completely believe her she gives Helena strength and passion combined with tenderness, her Helena is a woman who tries to break free and take charge over her life despite the constricting influences of church and society. Adam Kotz pastor Manders is a great contrast to Helena: cowardly, bigoted hypocrite with no trace of his own thinking. Charlene MacKenna's Regina is vivid an fierce, a girl who is not afraid to speak up and make her own decisions. Jack Lowden's Oswald is both passionate and fragile , innocent victim of his parents choices, condemned to lunacy and death.

Tim Hatley has done a superb job designing the set, two rooms and a glimpse of a garden are divided by translucent glass panels (that allow the audience to see what characters cannot) and Peter's Mumford light effects work magic on them.

Ibsen's Ghosts at Ttrafalgar Studios are a must see so grab your chance because this play finishes its run in a month time!

Why did I titled this review - A must see for every woman? Because this play was written 9 years after a term "Feminism" was used for the first time in France and Ibsen is a great advocate of women. In Ghosts we have a story of an intelligent woman forced into marriage, imprisoned by patriarchy and church, who cannot reveal that her marriage was a tragedy, is encourage by a pastor to live a lie, who slowly realises her own power (books she is reading) but  the past - titular Ghosts cannot be changed and her family pays the ultimate price for giving into the conventions. This is not only history it is also present, in many families and many places women can't chose, are beaten, abused, murdered  ' to save honour' have no right to vote or make any independent decision.
( It really annoys me that we live in a society where calling yourself a B**** is Ok but saying you are a feminist straight away labels you as man hating, unattractive hag. To be a Feminist is not to be against men but to demand that women have the same rights and opportunities as men, and are not discriminated against because of their sex in any aspect of life.)

Valentine's day movie recommendation 'Wings of Desire' (1987) by Wim Wenders

Wim Wenders Wings of Desire (Der Himmel uber Berlin 1987) is a unique movie, balancing between poetry, philosophy, transcendence and romance, with dreamlike visuals interchanging between black/withe and colour, and breathtaking performances.

The story is mesmerising, we are in West Berlin before the fall of the Wall, and we are following two angels Damiel (excellent Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) witnessing their efforts to help humankind by providing some guidance and inspiration, their presence can be felt but not seen. Cassiel follows elderly man named Homer in his Odyssey to reclaim his past and find peace, while Damiel watches over the french circus troupe and falls in love with trapeze artist Marion (Solveig Donmartin). Damiel appears to Marion in her sleep thus creating a bond between them, in consequence he decides he wants to move from just observing human life to truly participating in it by becoming a mortal and joining with Marion.

This is not a typical tear jerking romance, character is this movie ponder over ultimate questions of human existence: Who we are ?, What does it mean to be a human?, What is love? Is there someone who is destined to be with you as your soul mate?. You could possibly write a philosophical essay from every dialogue in this movie.
 The side of the story seen through the angels eyes is shot in black and white to emphasise their detachment, coolness, and emptiness of perfection which is devoid of warmth that feeling and experiencing can bring, human world although full of suffering and confusion is shown as colourful and vibrant.
Music in this movie is truly fantastic, brilliantly accentuating every scene. For me the hidden gems of Wings of Desire are two performances from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (he used to live in Berlin at that time) with perfectly chosen songs:The Carny and From Her to Eternity.

If you like movies with soul and depth then Wings of Desire is for you, you want regret watching it and you will never forget it.

(Hollywood tried to remake this movie and created barely watchable City of Angels 1998)

Movie recommendation 'Waiting for Godot' (2001)

Waiting for Godot has a special meaning for me, it was this very play that years ago made me fall in love with theatre, every time I see it I find something new to think about, some new understanding like a piece of infinite puzzle.
Waiting for Godot is written by Samuel Beckett some call it a comedy of undoing because in it Beckett successively deconstructs all the rules that used to govern play-writting before his time, others point that it belongs to the Theatre of Absurd, a form of theatre which rooted from the Absurdist philosophy of Albert Camus. Absurdism is philosophy of existentialism, pioneered by Søren Kierkegaard, and states that, while ultimate meaning might very well exist in the universe, human beings are incapable of finding it due to their mental or philosophical limitation. Therefore humanity is doomed to be faced with the Absurd, or the total absurdity of existence in lack of clearly defined purpose and meaning.

In this play two main characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot, a mythical god-like figure who will come and change their meaningless existence that consists mainly of finding different ways of killing time, their life is so bleak that they even ponder over possibility of hanging themselves because it might give them an erection. The only two other people that show up are pompous and cruel man named Pozzo and his slave servant called  Lucky, whom Pozzo  keeps on a rope like an animal and treats with utter despise. The setting is also minimalistic it consist of a a country road and a tree.

Of course all of this makes it really difficult to transfer this play onto a movie screen, all the weight of keeping the viewer interested rests on the performances of the actors. Fortunately the 2001 adaptation is great, Barry McGovern (Vladimir), Johnny Murphy (Esstragon), Alan Stanford (Pozzo) and Stephen Brennan (Lucky) do marvellous job, your eyes will stay glued to the screen all through the movie completly engrossed in their interactions, the camera work and direction are also flawless.
 
Due to it's absurdity and mind boggling qualities this play and a movie might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like to give your brain some exercises and ask some fundamental questions about humanity and sense of our existence you will not be disappointed.