Memory play (or musical) or shows with ghosts?

[aces25]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 10:20am

I’m doing some research on memories plays (or musicals) or shows that use ghosts effectively. What are some worth looking into? 
 

I’ll start…

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

THE SECRET GARDEN 

FOLLIES

GHOST THE MUSICAL 

[berniesb!tch]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 10:29am

The Glass Menagerie is a memory play.

The Inheritance has a pretty big scene (maybe more than one it's been a while since I read it) involving ghosts. 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 10:32am

Blithe Spirit and its musical version, High Spirits 

Macbeth

Richard III

Hamlet

Julius Caesar

Cymbeline 

Angels in America 

I Hate Hamlet 

The Innocents 

The Woman in Black 





 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 10:53am

Fun Home

Phantom of the Opera

Dancing at Lughnasa

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 11:08am

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

The ghostly memory and flashbacks of his mother, whom he believes to be dead during the first act.

 

Updated On: 6/23/23 at 11:08 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 11:08am

The Piano Lesson

[The Bittersweets]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 11:33am

Some shows that come to mind are:

- Water By The Spoonful

- Ghost Quartet

- Assassins

- The Thin Place

- quite a few Paula Vogel plays but specifically Indecent

[berniesb!tch]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 1:00pm

Now that I think about it, would Wicked could count as a memory play since most of the show besides the first and last scene are in the past?

[Fan123]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 6:15pm

This could be a very broad topic covering a lot of shows. If you're able to narrow it down at all, that might help yield useful examples for your purposes. For example: does any play involving a flashback scene containing character/s that are now (in the present-day scenes) dead, count? Does it only count if that flashback is used to illuminate the psychology of the character remembering (this would probably exclude Phantom of the Opera; sorry, Old Raoul)?  Do literal ghosts (Ghost: The Musical), fake ghosts (the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera) and 'psychological' ghosts (Fun Home) all count? How would you say that your initial examples used ghosts effectively or ineffectively, to give more of an idea of what you're looking for? (I don't mean for this to come off as a rant; I'm just interested in understanding.)

All that said, here are a few examples that I find interesting, if they're any help:

Elisabeth - Set in the underworld. The narrator resurrects a bunch of dead characters and makes them play out the story of what they did while alive, according to his own biased perception of what occurred. (There's also a character who's the personification of Death.)

Rebecca - Sort of an almost-ghost story (see also: Jane Eyre). A woman marries a widower and becomes obsessed with his dead first wife, Rebecca, whom she never met but whose presence seemingly lingers everywhere. Her preoccupation is so strong that Rebecca might as well be present as a ghost (and maybe she is... or is she?). However, I'm not sure if the show itself tackles this particularly effectively; it's inherent (and effective) in the original Daphne du Maurier novel.

Next to Normal - I have mixed thoughts on this show, but I think the use of a teenage Gabe as the 'ghost' of who he might have grown up to become if he hadn't passed away as an infant, is interesting. Given that he's the delusion of another character, Diana, rather than a literal ghost, he's also a menacing presence at times, seemingly trying to actively sabotage Diana's mental health.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 11:30pm

Both The Weir and Shining City by Conor McPherson.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/23/23 at 12:30am

Our Town