In ‘Ghostlight,’ a construction worker processes tragedy by performing in one: ‘Romeo and Juliet’
“Ghostlight” is all about the healing power of art. Kelly O’sullivan’s screenplay conveys its intentions through Dan (Keith Kupferer), a construction worker who discovers the best way to process his grief is to participate in a local stage production of “Romeo and Juliet.”
this synopsis may sound pretentious, or even twee, but that’s because this moving, surprisingly funny film is hard to boil down to a brief description. O’sullivan and her co-director, Alex thompson, allow the plot to unfold in a messy, leisurely fashion; for the first 20 minutes, we’re unsure of character motivation and the story’s destination. It can be a bit off-putting, but your patience will be rewarded.
We learn that Dan is prone to sudden outbursts of rage, sometimes over the smallest of problems. his 16-yearold daughter, Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), is also angry and belligerent, pushing a teacher and lashing out at her parents. Dan’s wife, sharon (tara Mallen), is the peacekeeper, but her own mental well-being appears to be hanging by a thread. she’s worried about an upcoming meeting with their lawyer.
A tragic event I’ll not reveal has befallen this family, an event we’ll have to wait to discover. “Ghostlight” doesn’t keep us in the dark too long, revealing the tragedy in a small, quiet, and graceful scene halfway through the film. It’s the first of several moments that will put a lump in your throat.
though he’s emotionally closed off, Dan has a good rapport with Daisy. their relationship is far less antagonistic than it first appears. he takes her out for batting practice and she teases him on car trips through their Illinois hometown. What bothers Daisy, and sharon as well, is how Dan either shuts down or explodes when he’s put in uncomfortable situations.
One such explosion catches the eye of Rita (an Oscar-worthy Dolly de leon). Dan and his men have been doing roadwork outside the community theater where she’s rehearsing “Romeo and Juliet.” she’s playing Juliet alongside a Romeo who is more than half her age. though the first interaction between Dan and Rita is filled with her profane complaints about the noise, she becomes intrigued with Dan — especially after seeing him in an altercation with an inconsiderate driver.
When Dan yanks the jerk out of his car and attempts to wring his neck, Riers ta thinks he can put that pent-up energy to good use on the stage. but after Dan meets her motley crew of perform— including the perpetually frustrated lucian (tommy Rivera-vega), who keeps losing parts to other actors after he’s cast, and the play’s director lanora (hanna Dworkin) — he turns Rita down.
After all, he’s the one with no talent in the family. sharon’s a music teacher and theater director, and Daisy’s a fine singer who brought down the house as Ado Annie in her school production of “Oklahoma!” he doesn’t even know the plot of “Romeo and Juliet,” or how it ends. “here’s a hint,” Daisy tells him, “it’s a tragedy.”
Eventually, Rita wears Dan down, saying, “I invited you because it seemed like you wanted to be someone else.” he joins just in time; they need a new Romeo since Rita slugged her previous Romeo for saying she was too old to play Juliet. the casting pairs the most experienced performer (Rita was a professional actor) with the least.
being a macho guy, Dan is too embarrassed to tell Daisy and sharon about his new pastime, which leads to an amusing scene where he’s accused of having an affair. It also leads to the slow rebuilding of his connections to sharon and Daisy, who joins the troupe to help out dear old Dad.
stepping into someone else’s shoes is one of the great joys of acting. It can allow you to see or experience a perspective unlike your own, which can engender empathy. “Ghostlight” uses Dan’s journey as a kind of therapy, giving him the safe space to channel his bottled-up sadness into not just a performance, but a deeper understanding of what brought about that sadness.
the acting in this film is a family affair. Mallen Kupferer (whom you may recognize from last year’s “Are You there God? It’s Me, Margaret.”) is the daughter of veteran chicago actors Kupferer and Mallen. the trio give excellent performances, working together to create a credible family unit. father and daughter hit their strides during their moments of catharsis onstage, which explains why audiences at sundance reportedly laughed and cried during the climactic performance.
A ghostlight, for the uninitiated, is a single light fixture that burns on a stage whenever it has gone dark (that is, when there’s no performance). In my musical-theater days, I was told it was a union requirement for safety. I was also told the light held many superstitions. Every theater allegedly has a ghost haunting it, and this light either appeases them or scares them away. I think it does both for Dan.