For Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater, Ghosts Is a Family Affair—Onstage and Off

Calling the play Ghosts a family affair might be a euphemism. Henrik Ibsen’s wrenching drama, running through April 26 at Lincoln Center Theater, does address generations of familial trauma, but in this production, the actual happy family is offstage.

Directed by Jack O’Brien with an adapted script by Mark O’Rowe, Ghosts stars Lily Rabe as Helena Alving, the widow of a respected Captain, striving to maintain the family’s reputable façade despite shameful secrets that lurk beneath the surface. Rabe shares the stage with Hamish Linklater, who plays Jacob Engstrand, a carpenter and adoptive father of Helena’s maid, Regina, as well as Billy Crudup, Levon Hawke, and Ella Beatty.

Rabe and Linklater, who are partners in real life, have costarred in many shows. The two met in the Shakespeare in the Park production of The Merchant of Venice and costarred in O’Brien’s staging of Much Ado About Nothing. They played violent antagonists in the Amazon series Tell Me Your Secrets and co-directed the film Downtown Owl, in which Rabe also starred.

These collaborations aren’t always planned, Rabe said. At times, directors have planned on casting both actors not knowing they are together. O’Brien did know, and Ghosts marks the culmination of a long text chain the three shared, discussing possible projects.

While combining personal and professional relationships might inspire conflict for some couples, the longtime pair share an obvious harmony. While talking one afternoon before a performance, they frequently finished each other’s sentences, completed each other’s stories and shared affectionate glances. During the one disagreement that took place during the conversation – over the date of a previous production – Rabe laughingly conceded to Linklater.

That laughter must be welcome, given the story they tell each night. First published in 1882, Ghosts addresses infidelity, sexually transmitted diseases, incest and euthanasia and was reviled by critics. But Ibsen’s 19^th-century condemnation of hypocritical morality has risen in stature and is now considered a good, if not great, drama.

“We didn’t really know how good the play was going to be,” Linklater said, admitting that when first reading the script, he wondered, “How on earth does a company of actors pull this off?” It was at the first table read that the play’s relevance was apparent. “And then the first time we got an audience there – just how much they were leaning into the subject matter – it was so exhilarating and thrilling.”

“The play just starts revealing itself to you and opening itself up,” Rabe added. “We did have this kind of lightning in a bottle experience, reading the play around the table the first time. Everyone was having such a personal experience watching it, and it felt so intimate and profound and timely.”

Ghosts follows Rabe’s Helena as she is forced to confront her family’s past as she builds an orphanage in her husband’s memory (and thus sanitize his reputation). While her strength is evident in the script, Rabe and O’Brien found themselves surprised by the character.

“I know that Jack knows my soul, and so I feel incredibly safe with him,” Rabe said. “She’s often played by someone who’s older than me, but he was very determined that I should be playing her exactly at my age. The way she has revealed herself to both of us, we were surprised by her and kind of amazed by her.”

The obstacles Helena faces – lack of autonomy, economic constraints, hypocritical societal expectations in a patriarchal society – were frequently explored by Ibsen’s heroines, notably Nora in A Doll’s House (a role Rabe has previously played). The continued relevance of his work struck both Rabe and Linklater. After almost every performance, Rabe finds herself comforting people.

“When people come backstage and are weeping in my arms it’s almost always for something different,” she said. “They’ve been hit by something different, but something that is also the same. The way he writes women is so stunning to me. I can’t believe the words that I say every night and how poignant and relevant and devastating and powerful they feel.”

A night at the theatre involving an old play in period-appropriate costumes, may sound like an escape to the audience, but for Linklater and Rabe, it also serves as a mirror.

“[The audience is] feeling both an access point to the modern moment, to what’s happening in our world and country, and also sort of relief from it too, which is really interesting,” Linklater added. “People are really laughing along at the hypocrisy of the men in charge, and they’re also very personally empathizing with the tragic situation that the mother and son find themselves in.”

The influence of Rabe and Linklater’s own parents can be seen in their careers, as both were raised in artistic families. Linklater’s mother taught vocal technique and was Professor Theatre and Chair of the Acting Division at Columbia University, and Rabe is the daughter of actress Jill Clayburgh and playwright David Rabe. Performing while parenting three young children (Linklater also has a teenage daughter from a previous marriage) has come naturally to the pair, who credit their adaptability to having grown up in the industry.

“We tried for a second, and I mean literally, a second, to have some kind of rule of, ‘If you’re doing a job on location, then I won’t,’” Rabe said. “And then immediately, we were both on location together with the kids.”

Added Linklater, “We have a perhaps foolhardy faith in the resilience of children.”

That resilience, which included celebrating a third birthday at Lincoln Center, eating dinosaur cake in their dressing room, has led their children to develop their own offstage shorthand while talking about the show.

“They can see that I’m very happy going to work. And they ask, ‘Is it a big day, a medium day or little day?’” Rabe said. “Little day is a one-show day, medium day is a two-show day, and a big day was when we were rehearsing during previews. I will probably forever call them that.”

It’s clear that bringing the show home is not a problem for the family. “I can’t leave [Helena] behind,” Rabe said. “I don’t even try, because I think I would fail, but I don’t feel that I’m any less present when I’m home.”

Linklater has no problem with that.

“I’m really enjoying going home with Helena Alving, though,” he said. “I must say, Lily wears her very nicely.”