The story is transposed from Scandinavia to foggy, coastal England with bungalows but with few holiday visitors but an Air B ‘n’ B for Andersen to stay in. As in the discussion between Andersen and Helena it becomes apparent that Karl Alving was a cheat, a liar, an adulterer and possibly a rapist, Andersen refuses to let the new hospital be named after him but Helena does not want the gossip that would come from such a change of course.  What then becomes the issue are the annual payments she was to make for the upkeep of the hospital. Andersen suggests a lump sum payment she does not have. 

Interesting isn’t it how often negotiations come down to reputation and money.  Reggie too wants her birthright.  This version of Ghosts  has some great acting and direction from Rachel O’Riordan but I found the audience laughter at Oz hard to stomach.  Callum Scott Howells played Rodolpho in  A View From the Bridge last year, without the bleached hair and was received seriously.  This is the third time in two months that I have found audience laughter at celebrity actors impinging on tragedy or the storyline and interfering with my experience in the theatre.  I’d like more actors to talk about how it feels to be representing sorrow and laughed at by the audience.