Ideas, images, sketches from our production of Ibsens Ghosts at Soulpepper

Below, birds eye view of set model. Here you can see how the set physically fits into the space and juts slightly out into the audience

Norway, whose Norse religion was overtaken by Christianity about 1000 AD, was, at the time of Ibsens play, a devoutly Evangelical Lutheran nation. France was not, and so men of a certain generation went there to find themselves, many found themselves in brothels or at the very least painting them. It should be no surprise that the Norwegian flag, a Nordic cross, is based on the connection between church and state. Although Norway is a secular country, nearly eighty percent of the population is Lutheran

For an artist, like Osvald, in 1880, there was simply no other place to be than Paris. Of course, Paris was also a city bohemianism, and so artists and the bohemian lifestyle became easily intertwined. But of course the reality is that artists generally lived lives of deprivation, and the real hedonists were the wealthy, for whom nothing beautiful or artistic was too sacred.

Meanwhile, back in Norway, Edvard Grieg was composing Solveigs Cradle Song, a beautiful, mournful, lullaby which we are using for the production. We like the notion of mother and child, which, in many ways, is what the story comes back to, and which gives it such heart. Pictured below, left, Joe Ziegler and right, Diego Matamoros, Joe plays Pastor Manders and Diego plays Jacob Engstrand. Along with Nancy, both actors are founding members of Soulpepper.

Design team for Ghosts, above, left, Thomas Ryder Payne, sound, right, Dana Osborne, costumes,

below left Alan Brodie, lights, and below, right, Ken

For better or worse, once the furniture pieces are placed, it can sometimes be pretty much a fait accompli, as the placement will dictate, of course, the staging of the play. With experience, you can foresee problems that might arise and mitigate them by setting the furniture according to sight lines, favorable acting positions, and preferred angles of director, designer, and actor. But once the ball starts rolling and the staging advances, it becomes less and less possible to make major adjustments, so a beginning placement of furniture is crucial. Here, a discussion takes place about the staging possibilities as well as an imagined architecture for the imagined house, around which the room is built. At this point, with few exceptions, entrances and exits, as well as onstage positions, need to be anticipated and planned for. Above, left, Gregory, Michelle, and Joe, study the lay of the land as Ken makes adjustments and Arwen marks the positions on the floor. Centre, Joe, Gregory, and Ken, doing God knows what, and right, Joe looking at the set model as it relates to the actual live space; theory and reality sometimes collide.

Rehearsals start with presentations from designers, and an impressive introduction of the whole company by Albert Schultz, here talking to Morris, left, and introducing Nancy, among others. Lower, left, Ken shows the cast his set model and explains his design, and right, joins stage manager Arwen and assistant stage manager Sarah in posing with a tiny pair of scissors. Lower, right, actors join with administrative staff and technical staff to engage in a little first day levity, if for no other reason than to ease the tension of beginning work on a whole new production. Left, Dana shows Nancy a sketch for her costume and below, right, a break in first day reading when actors and other Soulpepper company members get a chance to mingle as well as make plans, perhaps, for what to do with Morris, left, when he has a complete meltdown.

Left, Ken draws chairs and tables for the props department. Above, a rat appears at the directors table dressed as Abe Lincoln and carrying a bell, and above right, Joe and Morris break it down.

From Sophocles onward, the family secret revealed has been a mainstay of western theatre, Hamlet to August Osage County. Left, Oedipus enucleates himself for his sins. Right Hamlet and his father; ghosts have a way of hanging around

Dana borrows from period photographs for both inspiration and detail of costumes. Her workshop at home is full of wonderful period costume books

Meanwhile, right, the set begins to take shape in the shop opposite the rehearsal room. Once its assembled into pieces it can be painted. In this case, the painter will apply what is called interference to the black colour so that it picks up various other colours, and has a shimmering quality, especially apt for this show in which we want the set to appear to have a life of its own.

From shop floor to stage, set pieces are moved and assembled onstage. Here, also, adjustments are made by the director, designers, and even actors. Right, crew works on window assembly, and below, left, a tiny fly seems to have appeared in rehearsal refusing to budge from the script, could it be the ghost of Ibsen? Below, Morris and Alan Brodie confer.

Left, and below, first day on stage, always very exciting. This is the first opportunity to see how well the show plays in the space, and to put together lights and sound. Left and below, production stills from the show in black and white. And colour shots from our technical rehearsals which continue through the entire preview week. Once audiences start to attend, the actors, the director, gain a valued fresh perspective. Sometimes an audience understands better than we think they do.