Raconteur Theatre Company

“The audience is the most revered member of the theater. Without an audience, there is no theater. Everything done is ultimately for the enjoyment of the audience. They are our guests, fellow players, and the last spoke in the wheel which can then begin to roll. They make the performance meaningful.” - Viola Spolin

Ghosts closes tomorrow night and I find myself thinking back through the process of how we got here. As Marketing Rep I was concerned with getting people to the show. It is easy for devout theatre-lovers to forget that although every theatre student knows the role Ibsen has played in shaping theatre over the past century, often audiences may not even recognize his name. This is frustrating and surprising given the fact that he is the second most performed playwright in the world.

So as the days grow cold and dark, we found ourselves in the perpetual gamble of theatre companies everywhere. We made our calls, sent our emails, hung our posters and even tromped around in the streets at a couple local events to raise awareness. But it came down to this: every night at half past seven, we opened our doors, crossed our fingers and hoped.

Now, on the eve of our penultimate performance of Ghosts, I would like to extend my thanks. Thank you for venturing out in sunshine and in rain, on nights when you had to get up early the next day, and in the middle of sunny Sunday afternoons. Thank you for taking a chance on us. Thank you for spending your money in a time when cash is tight and for coming to a show which is challenging and unnerving during the tension of an elevated presidential election season. Thank you for sharing your kind words, your thoughts and insights with each of us every night. But mostly, simply, thank you. You are the reason we are here.

Thanks!
Molly St.Cyr-Reid

Starting a new theatre company is hard. It isn’t a simple formula where you take one-part actors with two parts designers, add sugar and stir and everything comes out right. We are constantly working trail and error - testing things out, seeing what works and what doesn’t and how to improve. Ghosts has been a continuation of our first show – striving forward to grow together as a company and individually as artists. We have had many struggles throughout this process that have given me so much more respect for the process of producing plays. I firmly believe that we learn more from our mistakes than our triumphs and that every obstacle we have encountered has been for the betterment of the company as a whole.

One of the first obstacles I ran into as Producer/Production Coordinator was in the communication of performance dates. After After the Afterglow closed, we had very little time to get things together before auditions for Ghosts. Although I did everything to make sure all our bases were covered, something did slip through the cracks. The week after auditions we got a call from MadLab, where we are renting space for the show, to say that our website had different performance dates than our contract with them. When I first heard this, I went into panic mode. How could the most obvious thing on the planet have been missed? Four of us met to discuss the production calendar. The Board of Directors had been talking about Ghosts for months with an October 2nd opening and yet here we were facing a dilemma. Should we ask MadLab to change the contract or ask everyone involved to push the production back a week? In the end, after many phone calls and emails, we decided to honor the MadLab contract and push the production back to an October 9th opening. In the end, it was the best choice for the production. It was hard for me to not beat myself into the ground, deal with it and move on. I had simply assumed the date we had talked about for months would obviously be the same date as the one in the contract and didn’t need verification. The good thing was that it was discovered pretty early on in the process and was able to be rectified quickly and with very little inconvenience.

We have also had an incredible amount of turnover for a show. Losing various artists due to a varying length of reasons and then having to scramble to find someone else to come in and help us out. It’s always hard to keep the show moving forward when these situations occur, but I have to applaud the entire production for moving forward without fail. As is always the case, the show must go on, and it does.

The show process has not been without speed bumps, but I am incredibly proud of the amount of hard work and dedication everyone on the cast and the production team has shown in striving towards our ultimate goal, which is to do good theatre. As we prepare for our Load-In and 1st Tech tomorrow, I am excited to see all the elements finally come together. Ghosts is an incredible story and I can’t wait to share it with Columbus.

Suellen Kasiara
Producer, Ghosts

In our short existence as a company, we have come upon and overcome many obstacles already.  Why should today be any different?

We are nearing the opening of our production of Ibsen’s Ghosts and at the same time we are preparing to start the production process for our next show (Mom and Pop by local playwright Sarah Tobin).  This is our first experience with overlapping production calendars, and it presents some new…er…learning opportunities.  Although we are continuing to slowly grow our company by bringing in more new and terrific people (we have really great people on board for Ghosts!), there is still a lot for the core founding company members to handle.  So, at a time when we are all maxed out with preparations for this production, we need to be focusing a lot of energy on the next one right now!  For example, we have auditions for Mom and Pop on the Sunday and Monday of tech week for Ghosts, and the Monday immediately following the tear-down of Ghosts will be the first rehearsal of Mom and Pop.  It’s truly non-stop.  On top of that, we are all, of course, working full time outside of the theatre.

This is my cue to get overwhelmed.

So, I tell myself to breathe.  I tell myself that all this work is worth it.  I tell myself that the passion I have for theatre has its outlet here– in a place I can call my own, and in a place I can be surrounded by other hard-working theatre lovers.

We can do this.

Jill

This week, while watching a rehearsal for Ghosts it struck me what a difference a translation can make. I first read Ghosts in college and was embarrassed to admit I didn’t understand it at all. The dialogue (and therefore the plot) was confusing to me. I found a strong dislike for the characters.

Lanford Wilson’s translation of Ghosts is true to the original intent, but it is more conversational. All of those outdated references and themes I found so confusing are made relevant. Although, I was already very familiar with the story I found I was being drawn into the character’s lives in a new way.

It seems for Ghosts, Lanford Wilson’s translation has provided much-needed insights which invite empathy. The same characters I found so distasteful before became pitiable and human. These are people we all understand. So often we see remakes (of any type) as second-rate, rarely can you say that a new version of an older classic is a worthwhile. This is a powerful script, which pays great tribute to Ibsen.

-Molly

I spent a good part of the summer worrying about casting Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. It features one of the greatest roles written for a woman, Mrs. Helen Alving.  By “greatest” I mean challenging, complex, on stage almost the entire show and responsible for the play’s success.  Who would be capable, available and interested in acting this role - or any of the others in the play for that matter - for a brand new theatre company that offers minuscule monetary compensation and a short track record of success?

Not knowing what else I could do, I decided to place my faith in God, the Universe or perhaps Dionysus himself to take care of that which was beyond my control.  I focused on my part: reading the script, researching Ibsen, and sending emails to every actor I know to invite them to audition.  I am grateful to say that tactic worked.  I now have a dream cast in whom I have complete confidence to bring Ghosts to life.

The cast of Raconteur Theatre’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts translated by Lanford Wilson is:

• Regina: Sarah Willis
• Engstrand: Richard Wilson
• Mrs. Helen Alving: Carolyn Harding
• Reverend Manders:Stephen Woosley
• Oswald: Brennan Hunter