Ghost Light
An attempted comedy about a staging of "Macbeth" in which the curse comes to life and the actors play their parts all too well.
The play’s the thing… unless it’s a spoof of a farce of a camp version of the play.
In “Ghost Light,” a middling theater troupe arrives at the very remote Riverside Lodge & Theatre to put on a production of “Macbeth” — excuse me, ‘the Scottish play.’ It’s one of those New England-y places that consist of a barn converted into a theater with a minuscule stage and a house for the actors to stay in and rehearse.
Think summer stock for those who are just at the beginning of their career, or the end.
This alleged comedy, directed by John Stimpson from a script he co-wrote with Geoffrey Taylor, provides us a lot of very arch character types and motivations, all leading to the realization that the ancient curse on the Shakespeare play really is true, and if you say “Macbeth” in the theater, very bad things will happen.
Maybe it is somewhat true, and the very bad thing that happened was the movie. (Kidding!)
“Ghost Light” has the distinction of featuring some name actors or at least recognizable faces. Carol Kane plays Madeline, the old ham matriarch of the bunch, playing one of the witches; Cary Elwes is Alex, a hack soap opera actor who’s financing the play so he can play Macbeth; Shannyn Sossamon is his resentful wife, Liz, also a stage spouse as Lady Macbeth; Tom Riley is Thomas, her secret lover who plays Banquo and longs to trade in his supporting role for the king’s crown — even if he and Liz have to make an accident occur.
Other cast members include Roger Bart as Henry, the level-headed director trying to balance the egos and conflicts of his troupe; Scott Adsit as Archie, the steady stage manager who’s ready to step in as a witch if needs be; Sheldon Best and Alex Portenko as bit players who are recently separated lovers in real life; Caroline Portu as another witch and Nolan Gerard Funk as her backstage beau; and Steve Tom as Elliot, the designated wise old man of the bunch and soon-to-be-late King Duncan.
A new arrival is Juliet (Danielle Campbell), a mysterious backpacker who turns up at the lodge for a yoga retreat that was canceled long ago, and gets conscripted into the play as the third witch. Her beguiling looks tantalize Thomas, which causes Liz to rage with jealousy, while the rest of the actors seem weirded out by her.
The title comes from the light that is supposed to be kept lit on the stage at all times when a rehearsal or performance is not going on. Of course, it’s just one of the many tripwires that are broken to invoke the curse.
Liz keeps urging Thomas to do harm to Alex so they can be together permanently, but when a falling stage light actually does knock the leading man out, he strangely recovers as a better actor. She starts seeing blood on her hands for real, while Thomas’ visions turn toward zombies and the like. Creepy stuff.
My biggest problem with “Ghost Light” is it seems to be aiming toward humor and keeps taking the wrong turn. I don’t think I laughed even once, though there were moments where the movie got dark and interesting enough to hold my attention. I kept wondering if they had been better off ditching the comedy and just doing a straight horror version of this story.
There’s an ongoing issue in the last act when they’re finally staging the play and the actors keep getting lost backstage, getting turned around and winding back where they started. Much the same could be said for “Ghost Light,” which never can quite seem to find its way to the light.