Stage Review - Ghost Writer (Jewel Box Theatre)

Stage Review - Ghost Writer
Presented By: Jewel Box Theatre - Poulsbo, WA
Show Run: March 14 - March 30, 2025
Date Reviewed: Monday, March 10, 2025 (Split Cast Dress Rehearsal)
Run Time: 90 Minutes (including a 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

Certain playwrights sort of sneak up on you. There are those that you notice a certain popularity around, demonstrated by area theaters playing their works, whether it’s Rajiv Joseph, Lauren Gunderson, or more recently Sarah Ruhl. Each of these writers have been getting quite a decent amount of stage time around Seattle over the past few seasons, but so has Michael Hollinger, he’s just been doing it a little more quietly. First, there was Incorruptible at Lakewood Playhouse, then An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf from Saltfire Theatre in Port Townsend. The latest theatre to select one of Hollinger’s plays for their schedule this season is the Jewel Box Theatre in Poulsbo, with their production of Ghost Writer, directed by Kristi Ann Jacobson and Ruth Ann Saunders, and running through March 30.

Who exactly is the “ghost writer”? In fact, it’s a question that goes beyond what this play is really about, something that we can even take to our conversations about creativity in the world of artificial intelligence, the consideration of who an artist really is. Does an artist have to be the one putting brush to canvas, or pen to parchment? Is the artist the one that develops the idea and has a computer produce it, or a typist put it on paper? When novelist Franklin Woolsey dies while writing a book, more precisely in the middle of a sentence, a book he was dictating to Myra, his secretary, Myra makes the decision to keep going, to keep typing where he left off, first finishing the sentence that he left hanging, then the chapter, and then the remainder of the novel. Skeptics, including the author’s widow Vivian, claim that Myra is looking to cash in on Woolsey’s success, to steal his legacy from him by finishing a book that they think is just her words produced from the knowledge that she’s gained by having a close relationship with him, though exactly how close has always been a matter of contention with Vivian. Taking it to the analogy of the artificial intelligence situation, it’s the idea that is fed into the machine (Myra) here and the machine producing the piece that is considered the art. Who is the artist? Franklin, for being the one who fed Myra through the years with his words and style? Myra, for taking that and forming new sentences and thoughts? Meanwhile, Myra herself contends that the words are coming from Franklin Woolsey himself, that she is just channeling them, making him a literal ghost writer, as opposed to the more common use of the term. Hollingsworth is smart, he never provides an answer, but rather he lets the audience decide who the artist is, either the one with the idea, the one processing the idea, or the one putting the idea on paper, or even a combination of the above. The story is told from Myra’s perspective, she’s the de facto narrator as she addresses the audience in a way that makes them seem like members of the press taking notes for a story, her recollections complemented both by re-enacted memories with the late author and his wife, along with present day interruptions from widow Vivian. It’s a smartly constructed story, it’s dialogue heavy, and requires a quality performance to make this work, especially from the actor portraying Myra in this cast of three.

Split casts are a critic’s nemesis., typically There have been more of them since Covid times, as an alternative to carrying multiple understudies for shows like this, and it also gives actors some committed time off during show runs. There’s also a third side effect, in that it allows directors to play a bit with their vision for a show, to put up two casts and have them present the show with different energies or different emphases. That’s what Kristi Ann and Ruth Ann have done here with Ghost Writer, having two casts of three, a “Gramophone Cast”, consisting of Marissa Ekman as Myra Babbage, Franklin Woolsey’s secretary, Carmen Pinto as the author, and Amanda Rae Gutgsell as his widow Vivian. The other cast, the “Foxtrot Cast”, features Ruth Bookwalter as Myra, James Evans as Franklin, and Ashley Duffy as Vivian. For Monday’s dress rehearsal, I was able to see both casts, the Foxtrot group for the first half of the show, and the Gramophone cast for the second. There’s good and bad with this, of course, I don’t get to see the full story arc from both Myras, it is her story after all, but I do get to see the differences in what each actor brings to their characters as well as the relationships they have with each other. It’s most definitely beneficial to see both sides of the proverbial coin.

The show begins with Myra at the typewriter and the figure of Franklin Woolsey leaning, back to the audience, staring out the window. The set is nicely done, designed by Kristi Ann, Ruth Ann, Leslie Allen, and Bill Klorig. It’s simply setup with a desk and typewriter where Myra typically sits, a few chairs and a side table, and some window frames along the wall at the back of the stage. There’s a nicely creative design on that back wall, a collection of pages formed into what looks like a graph illustrating the increase in tension in the overall story, among other things. The floor, meanwhile, is painted to look like a carpet, and if you get a chance, take a look at the center of it for another nice design element. Lighting (Dale Borer) and sound (Kristi Ann) are used to present a thunderstorm outside of where Myra is presenting the story to the audience, and Dale’s lighting is nice in the way it’s softer at times when Myra is speaking to the audience, and brighter during the show’s reenactments.

Myra acknowledges the audience as the press who has come to find out some information from her, stands up and begins her narration. It goes on for quite a bit of time, the play is dialogue heavy for Myra’s character especially, and eventually the author begins to interact with his secretary, strictly in flashbacks, but he’s always hovering, adding to the mystery, is he really a ghost writer, is he there or in Myra’s imagination? It seems as though Myra is a fast and accurate typist, the audience learns this as the two recall together how she came to work for Franklin, and while at first she simply types what he dictates, it isn’t long until their relationship takes a turn, starting with her challenging him on punctuation, and then Myra learning how to work through the static and get the author to focus. The more time they spend together, it only makes sense that the two become closer, and as this happens, Vivian feels like she is competing for her husband’s time, to the extent that she begins to contemplate some pretty extreme ways of dealing with her insecurity, though she may not be entirely wrong. The rest of the play follows the relationship between Myra and Franklin, but mostly delves into her work in and justification of finishing his incomplete novel, and Vivian’s objection to it. The second act has some emotion to it, emotion which makes the audience wonder about their allegiance heretofore, and it’s where the depth and the value of the play is found.

Kristi and Ruth Ann have also added their own twist to challenging how the audience views Myra, Franklin, and Vivian in the way they have cast the show. Each audience member is going to come into the show with a preconceived notion around relationships, those formed outside of marriage, whether lines are crossed or not, and attitudes about age differences. Kristi and Ruth Ann have made the show purposely uncomfortable, at least it may be for some, to help drive the conversation that is sure to happen after the curtain drops about who is in the right in Ghost Writer, and how, at the end of the day, it’s really not so simple, and how blacks and whites are more gray than anything. There’s also the differences in the way that each actor portrays his or her character that make this such an interesting way of casting, it really does mean that there are two considerably different versions of this story in the offing. For example, with Vivian, the differences between Ashley Duffy and Amanda Rae Gutgsell are stark. Both are clearly threatened by the relationship between her husband, but it’s how that is manifested that separates them. Ashley’s Vivian is more subdued, more quiet, seemingly more passively aggressive, expressing her displeasure with a look, whereas Amanda’s Vivian is comparitively more outwardly emotional, quicker with an outburst, more aggressive toward Myra. Granted, these observations are based on what I was able to see from each, but they do align with the strengths of their acting that I’ve seen in previous shows, which aligns with why they’d each be good casting choices for the role. On the Franklin side, James Evans and Carmen Pinto are probably the most similar between them of the three pairings, James may have a bit more energy, a bit more aloofness than Carmen, but they’re generally consistently portrayed.

Ghost Writer is Myra’s story, of course, and this pair of directors couldn’t have cast the role with two more dissimilar actors. There’s a noticeable age difference, which is also evident in the two Franklins, between Merissa Ekman and Ruth Bookwalter, but even moreso, it’s in the way that they each play Myra that impacts how the play itself is experienced. Myra is clearly an accomplished typist and amanuensis, and while Ruth’s Myra is quietly confident about her skills, hesitent to challenge Franklin, but solid and unwavering in her position when she does, Merissa’s is more outwardly arrogant and a bit cocky about her skills. This also translates to their interactions with Vivian, Ruth’s are more quietly agreeable, at least at first, while Merissa’s are more aggressive, each matched perfectly with their respective author’s wife. Both actors, regardless of how they deliver their lines, do so confidently and without a hitch, and there are a lot of them to deliver. And while the acting is good, what this shows me more than anything is how the work of a director, and specifically their role in casting a show, can take one story and make it play two completely different ways, depending on whom they put in any particular role.

Michael Hollinger’s Ghost Writer tells the story of Myra Babbage, who vows to finish Franklin Woolsey’s novel after he passes away, after all, who knows more about him and his writing than his secretary/typist when it comes down to it? More than that, Ghost Writer is a story that contemplates the nature of an artists’ identity, a thought that is extremely valid and timely in a world where artificial intelligence is being used to create more and more art. The Jewel Box production is also a study in stage direction and casting, how Kristi Ann Jacobson and Ruth Ann Saunders have built two casts that tell the same story in two completely different ways, each providing the audience with different questions, different reactions, and surely different conclusions. It’s not possible for everyone to see plays with multiple casts twice, but if there ever was one for which the effort should be made, this is it.

Ghost Writer runs on stage at the Jewel Box Theatre in Poulsbo through March 30. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.jewelboxpoulsbo.org/. Note that there are two casts for this production.

Photo credit: Kristi Ann Jacobson