ALISON CROOSE A visit to West Acre is sure to be a stimulating theatrical experience and the company's reputation for its adventurous spirit can only be enhanced by Andy Naylor's reworking of Ibsen's controversial drama.

ALISON CROOSE

A visit to West Acre is sure to be a stimulating theatrical experience and the company's reputation for its adventurous spirit can only be enhanced by Andy Naylor's reworking of Ibsen's controversial drama.

In 1881 the work provoked a storm of abuse so it was a brave man prepared to tackle a remodelling of a play which attacked sacred principles of the time, especially as the world has changed almost beyond recognition in the intervening century.

Naylor's decision to rework the themes of the original and transpose the action to Norfolk in the 1960s was a gamble – but it worked and created thoroughly absorbing entertainment, thanks to excellent acting and a splendid sunny set which provided the backdrop for so many ghostly echoes.

Andy Naylor immersed himself in the role of the rather stuffy priest taking the moral high ground contrasting with the attitudes of the Bohemian widow (Issy Huckle) – as ever two stalwart actors.

Mike Breen displayed shades of Alf Garnett until his deeper scheming traits emerged in a sensitive portrayal. As the two younger characters pivotal to the story Katherine Shaw and Simon Wakefield had the skills to deliver the crucial denouement.

t Ghosts also plays on Friday and Saturday, April 4-5. Box office: 01760 755800.