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Karen A Gahagan
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Just in time for the October holiday season, Salem State’s award-winning theatre department presents The Ghost Sonata by August Strindberg. Performances take place October 20-22 and October 27-29 in the Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, 356 Lafayette Street.
The Ghost Sonata relates the adventures of a young student who idealizes the lives of the residents of an opulent apartment building. He makes the acquaintance of a mysterious man who helps him find his way into the building, where he meets the inhabitants at a “ghost supper” - the colonel; his wife, their beautiful daughter, the Young Lady, the Mummy and other living dead. The student soon discovers that the house he admired from afar is a nest of betrayal, deceit, corruption and misery.
Strindberg’s haunted and haunting dreamscape challenges the viewers’ perceptions of reality and illusion. The "ghosts" in the play are not just supernatural entities, but also symbolic representations of the characters' unresolved traumas and regrets. It is a psychological netherworld where appearances are deceptive and where truths are revealed in unexpected ways.
Translation by Harry G. Carlson. Directed by Jerry L. Johnson. For mature audiences.
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets are $15 general/$10 seniors/under 18 and students with ID free. Purchase tickets. Admission is free for Salem residents with ID on Friday, October 27.