Enter Ghost
Rebecca Mead, in her piece on the German actor Sandra Hüller, describes Hüller’s performance in a 2019 production of “Hamlet” (“Interiors,” December 4th). During Hamlet’s encounter with the ghost of his father, Hüller spoke both characters’ lines, with the ghost’s exhortation to revenge seemingly torn from Hamlet’s innards. I was reminded of another production, at the Royal Court, in London, in 1980, directed by Richard Eyre and starring a young Jonathan Pryce: the encounter with the ghost was performed the same way, with Pryce fairly vomiting his father’s words, a bodily possession both painful and purging. It still resonates with me as one of the most exciting and terrifying stage moments I’ve witnessed.Chris Rohmann
Florence, Mass.
New Yorker
(From The Mail, December 18, 2023 issue)