Yangson Project confronts 'Ghosts' – the inherited spirits that haunt us
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"We realized that working through multiple works by the same playwright allows you to explore their literary world from different angles," Park said during a group interview with the press on Tuesday. "We had never tackled Ibsen before, but everyone had a certain curiosity and affection for his work. So we decided to study his works together."
Park added, "We've shared everything from lighthearted stories to serious debates. That honesty is what's kept us close."
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When we fight with someone, it’s never just with that person, according to director Park Ji-hye of the Yangson Project. Behind the person stand their parents, their upbringing, their entire lineage — not just their bodies, but the choices and values passed down through the generations, all chained together in one being. It’s one world colliding with another.
Those storied worlds collide in the Yangson Project’s latest production, “Ghosts,” a reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s 1881 play that confronts the lingering forces of the past and the invisible pressures shaping the present.
Formed in 2011, the Yangson Project is a four-member theater collective consisting of Park and actors Son Sang-kyu, Yang Jo-ah and Yang Jong-wook. Working as a collective, they share the responsibility for selecting, adapting, directing and performing each work. Over the past decade, the collective has developed a distinctive theatrical language — minimal in form yet rich in textual nuance — that has earned it both critical acclaim and a devoted following. The entire run sold out less than an hour after tickets went on sale.
The production also serves as the opening chapter in the group’s planned three-year Ibsen Trilogy, with one new adaptation of the Norwegian playwright's drama to be staged each year.
“We realized that working through multiple works by the same playwright allows you to explore their literary world from different angles,” Park said during a group interview with the press on Tuesday. “We had never tackled Ibsen before, but everyone had a certain curiosity and affection for his work. So we decided to study his works together.”
“Ibsen has this sharp, unflinching way of saying exactly what he wants to say. That aligns with the direction we’ve always pursued as a team,” added Son.
As with their previous projects, the four members translated, analyzed and reworked Ibsen’s text together, line by line, an endeavor that took two months. “We rewrote the dialogue so it would sound like something truly spoken between people,” Park said.
The greater challenge was making the play resonate for contemporary audiences. “When I first read ‘Ghosts,’ I thought, 'This must have been shocking in its time, but perhaps not anymore.' So the question was, how can we make it feel urgent and real for today’s viewers?” said Son.
The Norwegian title of “Ghosts” ("Gengangere") literally means “those who return.” So in the play, these “ghosts” are not just spirits of the dead but the lingering forces of convention, religion and social hypocrisy — forces that continue to haunt the living.
The story unfolds on the eve of the opening of an orphanage built by Mrs. Alving to honor her late husband. When her son Osvald returns home for the ceremony, buried family secrets begin to surface. What once seemed a respectable household begins to crumble under the weight of long-suppressed truths. The play was met with strong controversy at the time for its portrayal of taboo subjects such as venereal disease, incest and euthanasia.
On stage, Yang Jo-ah embodies Mrs. Alving, while Son and Yang Jong-wook take on multiple roles, shifting fluidly among characters. Even when not inhabiting a specific role, they remain on stage as ghostly presences, whispering fragments of memory, echoing societal norms and embodying the invisible pressures that suffocate Mrs. Alving.
“The ‘ghosts’ may mean something different to each person,” said Park. “For me, they represent social pressures, the fear of judgment and shame that governed Ibsen’s time but still persist today.”
Throughout the performance, actors not only deliver dialogue but also recite the stage directions and descriptions aloud — a signature technique that Yangson Project developed during its earlier stage adaptations of novels. The approach creates what the group calls a dual experience: audiences both read and watch the play unfold.
After 15 years together, the Yangson Project’s chemistry remains remarkably intact. “In this team, everyone speaks freely. Nothing gets bottled up,” Son said.
Park added, “We’ve shared everything from lighthearted stories to serious debates. That honesty is what’s kept us close.”
“Ghosts” runs through Oct. 26 at LG Arts Center Seoul.
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