REVIEW: GHOSTS @ THE QUESTORS THEATRE

🎭 Ghosts

📍 The Studio, 12 Mattock Lane, London, W5 5BQ

🗓 Wednesday 21st January 2026

⭐️ 4 Stars

A HAUNTINGLY POWERFUL MASTERCLASS IN REALISM

Walking into the intimate, in-the-rectangle setting of The Studio at The Questors Theatre on a wet January night, you'd be forgiven for expecting a dusty relic of 19th century Norwegian angst. What director David Emmet delivers instead - utilizing the razor-sharp Richard Eyre translation - is a visceral, 90-minute descent into the psychological wreckage of a family built on lies.

Ibsen's "again-walkers" are not literal specters, but the suffocating legacies of duty and disease that refuses to stay buried. This production leans into that domestic claustrphobia with a staging that places the audience so close to the unraveling that you can almost taste the morphine.

The standard of acting across the board is remarkably high for a community venture, and rivals professional Off-West End houses. Caroline Bleakley is a powerhouse as Helene Alving, navigating the character's journey from rigid preservation to bone-deep anguish with vulnerability that had me captivated. Opposite her, Darren Chancey avoids the easy trap of making Pastor Manders a mere caricature of hypocrisy, instead giving us a man genuinely and terrifyingly trapped by his own narrow mortality.

However, the beating, bruised heart of this production is Usmaan Khan as Oswald. A recent East 15 graduate making his Questors debut, Khan brings a raw, kinetic energy to the role that is impossible to look away from. His transition from a casually charming artist to a man physically and mentally crumbling under his father's sins is harrowing, and completely took my breath away. Khan posseses that rare, charismatic ability to make Oswald's descent feel not like a literary trope, but a heartbreaking tragedy occurring in real time.

Stella Robinson brings a sharp, defiant warmth to Regina, and Martin Halvey finds a cunning sycophancy in Jacob Engstrand that rounds out a cast with undeniable chemistry.

While the play's harrowing final moments - involving Oswald's plea for the sun - are slightly undercut by a playful wink to the audience during the curtain call, the dramatic tension leading up to it remains unbroken. It is a thoughtful, worthy production that proves Ibsen's controversial piece still has the power to shock and stir.

Juliet Demoulin's set and costume designs perfectly replicate the era, and Andrew Whadcoat's lighting design is perfectly understated with subtle changes that enhance the action.

Although this version doesn't have the pace or wit of Gary Owen's more modern interpretation, Eyre's translation is steeped in tradition and remains true to Isben's original meaning. It's hard to believe in modern times that the play was originally reviewed as "one of the filthiest things ever written in Scandinavia" and was banned by the Lord Chamberlain on its release. It doesn't have that same shock value today, but that takes nothing away from the intensity.

If you're looking for a night of theatre that is as emotionally engaing as it is meticulously crafted, do not miss this. It's bleak, it's beautiful, and it's haunting in all the right ways.

GHOSTS continues performances at The Questors Theatre until Saturday 24th January. Click here to book tickets.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Ghosts was gifted by The Questors Theatre who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST LIST:

Caroline Bleakley as Helene Alving; Usmaan Khan as Oswald Alving; Darren Chancey as Pastor Manders; Stella Robinson as Regina Engstrand; Martin Halvey as Jacob Engstrand

RUNNING TIME (approx):

1 hour 30 minutes, with no interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Themes of disease and death

AGE RECOMMENDATION:

14 +

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