'GHOST' Provides a Haunting Take on Loss

If audiences expected “GHOST” to be a thoroughly heart-warming story, one that would reassure them that everything is going to be okay or leave them emotionally satisfied, then they were mistaken. With its short scenes and occasionally drawn-out dialogues, the play had a rhythm that seemed odd and uneasy. However, that might have been exactly what playwright Emma R. Adler ’16, an active Crimson arts editor, and director Allegra C. Caldera ’17 wanted the audience to experience. “GHOST,” which ran April 9–12 in the Adams Pool Theater, put great trust in its audience’s capacity for reflection and ability to allow the dissatisfaction of the play to evolve into a deeper meaning. “GHOST” was not the type of play to see on a whim—it was not a tale of character growth that could be wrapped up neatly and tied with a bow, but rather a very real sliver of life. The play was a balancing act of drama and comedy executed, for the most part, gracefully and skillfully.

Lucy, played adeptly by Nina C. Sapers ’17, is a college senior who returns home to handle the death of her cancer-stricken mother. She must confront various elements of the past: her high-school boyfriend Ian (played by Nicolas E. O’Connor ’17), her relatives, and even strangers from her mother’s teenage years. Despite the darkness of the situation, Adler deftly used comedy to sprinkle reminders throughout the play that life goes on. For example, in one scene Lucy’s father inquires about her love life in an inept and quintessentially awkward manner, giving the audience room both to relate and laugh.

The play’s name worked on multiple levels. Most obviously, it addressed the haunting presence of Lucy’s dead mother, but it was also the name of a game which Lucy used to play with Ian. Games were a near-omnipresent symbol in the play. “Everything bad that can happen to you is a form of losing,” one character memorably mused. Each scene was introduced with a title card with the name of a different game that related to its contents. For example, “20 Questions” came when Lucy encountered a rather inquisitive stranger, played by Stephen J. Kim ’15, while waiting for the bus; “Taboo,” when Lucy met several individuals who did not understand social graces at her mother’s funeral reception; and “Guess Who?”, when a mystery guest showed up unannounced. This clever structure kept the momentum of the play lively and jaunty–a necessary contrast to the otherwise dark and heavy content.

However, the production had a slightly awkward start due to several technical errors. At some points, the lights did not shine on the correct part of the stage, and at others the title cards were not flipped in the correct sequence. The Adams Pool Theater’s limited space resulted in some rather clumsy set changes; within scenes, however, the actors took full advantage of the set. After working out the initial kinks of awkward technical direction, Sapers played the lead with conviction and believability as someone attempting to clumsily fumble on with life while dealing with profound tragedy. Jack C. Smith ’15, who played Lucy’s brother Brian, and Nathaniel Brodsky ’18, who played Lucy’s father Hal, nicely conveyed the strange beauty of still being able to joke with relatives even during a time of extreme sadness; in one scene after the funeral, there was a remarkably true moment when Lucy and her brother began to argue about which television channel to watch and then broke down in laughter. The actors’ skillful portrayals bolstered what was already a moving script.

Unfortunately, the ending of “GHOST” failed to maintain the play’s momentum. Most unsettling was the absence of artistic conclusion; by the final scene of the play, the theme of games was entirely lost, aside from its technical role in the division of scenes. One more reference to the game GHOST or another mention of what it means to win or lose in life might have given the play a sense of completion without too overtly tidying up the story. Despite the play’s minor flaws, however, Adler undeniably hit on moments of pure truth in the quick, hour-long runtime; “GHOST” remained haunting long after the lights dimmed.