By David Gordon
Closing the Department of Drama and Dance’s 2008-2009 theater season is August Strindberg’s “The Ghost Sonata.” Adjunct assistant professor Edward Elefterion directs the production of a play critics and scholars deemed to be “impossible” to stage, yet one of the seminal plays of the last century.
“The Ghost Sonata” tells the story of a student who fantasizes over the idea of living in a looming building on a hill in Stockholm. As the student befriends a mysterious old man who helps him make his way into the apartment, he discovers that the place is a den of sickness, betrayal and vampirism. Is salvation or hope attainable?
“I took my cue from Strindberg himself, who had the courage to write whatever he felt would most fully express his intentions, whether or not it was feasible on stage,” Elefterion states in the department’s subscriber newsletter, referring to, among other things, the final stage direction: “the room vanishes.”
“This play should not be spoken,” he continues. “It should ring with the energy of an incantation… it should move swiftly with no small attention to the rhythmic power that Strindberg (and translator Evert Sprinchorn) imbued within it. We spent many hours in rehearsal on rhythm alone.” In fact, one of the reasons the Sprinchorn translation was chosen, Elefterion said in an interview, was that it was “more poetic” than the others, specifically, the ones written respectively by Elizabeth Sprigge and Michael Mayer.
“Ed likes to see the show on its feet, so rehearsals have been a lot of doing, not talking,” says cast member Casey Killoran, who plays the role of the Superintendent’s wife. “It’s a very collaborative experience… We give him something and if he likes it, he’ll say ‘well, I liked it, but let’s try another choice’… It’s strenuous, but it’s also rewarding because if you keep talking about one thing, you start to over-analyze and second guess yourself.”
“It’s certainly been an adventure,” says Chelsea Frati, who plays the mummy. “We’re constantly exploring, changing the blocking around. We basically play, and every night, we find things that will become part of the finished product.”
“We didn’t always feel on the same page as Ed, and that felt disconcerting at times. Regardless, we could trust where he was leading us,” says Michael Quattrone, who plays the student.
Elefterion isn’t interested in a show with “tidy meanings.” “I think that audiences should expect to be challenged and involved in the experience,” he says.
The cast members agree. “I hope the audience is willing to experience what it is. This is not a typical show; the audience takes from it what they want. I hope they leave thinking,” said Elefterion