ibsen's shocking tragedy

The Globe's winter season 2023/24 starts strong as Henrik Ibsen's shocking play storms into the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse from November 10th. The first Ibsen work to grace the candlelit stage, Ghosts is one of his most divisive. A scathing commentary on morality, its themes of incest, STDs, and euthanasia caused controversy on its 19th-century premiere, yet has since become regarded as one of his finest (if rarely produced) masterworks.

What is the story?

The story follows the widow Helene Alving as she tries to start her life anew after the death of her philandering husband. She is determined that her son Osvald will not follow the same path through life as his father, but when Osvald returns home from a trip to France, she discovers that she may already be too late.