Roky Erickson once said (sang) that if you have ghosts, you have everything. I suppose in the supernatural sense that means that you have an insight that most of us don’t. Plus, you’re probably carrying a load in your pants from the fright. But in the sense that we all have a past to carry around with us, it’s more corporeal: regrets, choices, people no longer in our lives, etc. That’s probably what Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen was getting at in Ghosts, a cautionary morality tale that illustrates perfectly the ways that past indiscretions can pop up to haunt us. If you’re looking for a fun thriller, Halloween is over, my friend — this classic play’s got frightful plotlines like syphilis and incest instead. But it was considered absolutely scandalous when it was first produced in the late 1800s and it maintains a level of contemplative sordidness even today. Catch the The University of Dallas Drama Department’s production of Ghosts nightly at 8 p.m. at the Margaret Jonsson Theater, 1845 East Northgate Drive in Irving. Tickets are $5 to $10 and may be purchased by calling the box office at 972-721-5314.
Tue., Nov. 13, 2012