Film Club hosted by Han-'Naeh Belser Saturday after the 7:00 show.
Ghostlight centers on Dan, a stoic construction worker who is trying to hold his family, and himself, together after the tragic death of a teenage son. His wife, Sharon, is a teacher, and their teenage daughter Daisy is a theater kid with a belligerent streak. It's obvious the family isn't OK. It's volatile, stressful work to stay afloat.
After Daisy gets herself suspended from school, Dan is about at his limit, and after an outburst at work he gets put on leave, too. He doesn't want to tell his family. A serendipitous encounter with an onlooker named Rita leads him into an unexpected place: a rehearsal for a local production of "Romeo and Juliet," which has just lost a player. Rita badgers him into reading lines for a day. He keeps coming back.
The theme of theater as therapy takes on a deeper, richer meaning as the plot unfolds. Part of the power of Shakespeare's plays comes from their infinite capacity for reinvention — their ability to be restaged in every culture and find new resonance there. "Ghostlight" plays on this while weaving a tale of its own, making the case that theater's allure comes not from its plot, but the way we're invited to participate in it, whether actor or audience. Performing a play, we step into someone else's shoes, and if we're any good at it we start to understand who they are a little more. If we're watching it right, we inhabit their world too.