By Alan Jozwiak
The play Ghost Girls by Clifton Players and Liberty Exhibition Hall is now up and running. Ghost Girls is an impressive world premiere play by local playwright Rose Vanden Eynden.
Background
In the mid-19th century, the practice of mediums contacting spirits from beyond the grave became incredibly popular throughout the United States and England. This practice evolved into the religion of Spiritualism. At the forefront of Spiritualism are Maggie and Kate Fox. The play shows the Fox Sisters, known for their ability to manifest spirits and for their unexplained spirit rapping (spirits making rapping sounds in response to a medium’s questions).
Veteran stage director Tara Williams assembles a sparse stage filled only with a few set pieces that get used throughout the play—a bed and night stand, a seance table and chairs, and a small table. These few pieces are used to tell the story of the Fox Sisters from 1848, when the spirit rapping first appears, to the late 1890s with the death of Maggie Fox.
Ghost Girl Performers
Williams assembles a talented cast for this production. Each of the sisters is a standout. As Maggie, Mindy Heithaus brings great humanity and vulnerability to her role. We can feel and sympathize with Maggie’s trials and devastating losses, as well as her doubts in her abilities to contact the dead. It has been a while since I have seen Heithaus on stage and I’m glad that she shines bright as Maggie Fox.
Lisa Dirkes, who plays Kate Fox, is also strong in her role. Kate is the more adventurous of the two sisters and Dirkes is a delight on stage. (This is probably the best performance I’ve seen her in.) Dirkes has a good grasp of what makes Kate Fox tick and plays her with plenty of joie de vivre and high spirits. Dirkes also brings lots of humor with her role, which helps relieve family tensions.
Finally, Tracy M. Schoster plays their domineering older sister Leah. Schoster’s Leah takes hold of her younger sisters’ lives and ends up controlling them, being their seance scheduler and overall manager. Schoster is outstanding as Leah, being able to show her resolve and iron will in the face of the defiance of her other sisters. She acts as the perfect counterbalance to the other sisters.
The rest of the cast includes talented actors who fill in roles as diverse as famed publisher Horace Greenly to the spouse of Maggie Fox. Performers are Kristy Rucker, Holly Sauerbrunn, Paul Morris, Terry Gosdin, and Spenser Smith. Kudos to the rest of this cast, as they provided strong support to the principal actors in this production.
Special FX
Also worthy of attention is Jason Cox, who supervises the Sound Design and Special Effects. The rapping sound he uses throughout the course of the play to imitate ghost rapping is very effective and adds another level of believability to the production.
The Playwright
Vanden Eyden, the local playwright is a practicing spiritualis. This play marks an impressive debut for her. The action is slow in the beginning, but takes off when the sisters hold their first seance. The second act packs a lot in–jumping stretches of time to tell all of the characters’ rich stories.
Ghost Girls is a compelling piece of theatre that is a welcome addition to the spooky offerings this Halloween season. It is extremely well acted. Hurry, you only have one more weekend to see this play.
Tickets to Ghost Girls
Ghost Girls runs November 1 through 10 at the Liberty Exhibition Hall in Northside. Click here for tickets to be taken to the production’s Facebook page.
NOTE: When entering the Liberty Exhibition Hall, you’ll check in by walking back to the bar which is straight ahead of you when you enter from street level. You’ll find an escort to enter the performance space.
