GHOSTLIGHT
FOUR AND A HALF STARS Community theatre brings much needed relief to a family dealing with tragedy.
DRAMA US English #GHOSTLIGHT
Starring Keith Kupferer, Katherine Mallen Kupferer
The crazy idea to cast Romeo with a 50-something-year-old makes perfect sense in this heartfelt, weighty and sublime drama from the writing/directing team of Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson.
Dan (Keith Kupferer) is a grieving father struggling to reconnect with his wife Sharon (Tara Mallen) and rebellious teenage daughter Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) after a shared tragedy, the suicide of Dan’s son. Their family is stuck in an emotional holding pattern that no one seems to know how to break through.
He literally stumbles into a community theatre production of Romeo and Juliet which Dan, to his surprise and ours, is drawn into. It’s being produced by the spritely Rita (a camera-baiting performance from Dolly De Leon) whose direction offers some kind of relief valve to the pressures accumulating at home. At first Dan keeps the play to himself, a little embarrassed to be an aging thesp, a little because it’s proving to be therapeutic, a gift that might evaporate if he shares it with anyone.
Fearful that her father’s sudden absence at home means he’s having an affair, Daisy plays detective, learns the truth and lands herself a role in the play as well. Before long all the family are involved and Dan, against the odds, has been promoted to the role of Romeo alongside his daughter’s Juliette. Weird yes, but taught direction avoids cliché and keeps what otherwise might be unbearably right-on well grounded..
Kupferer is in the front row of a cast of standouts as he delivers a mesmerising performance as Dan. He perfectly captures the nuanced struggle of a man battling inner turmoil while trying to maintain a stoic, working-class facade because as we know, men don’t cry. His journey from a withdrawn, grieving parent to someone rediscovering his humanity is heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure. The casting of Kupferer, Mallen, and Mallen Kupferer (a real-life family which would normally be a distracting self-indulgence) brings genuine depth to the onscreen dynamic, one that resonates with authenticity because, of course, it is.
The film balances its heavy themes with moments of warmth and levity (much of the film is genuinely funny) that creates a richly textured and throughly rewarding experience. O’Sullivan’s script is poignant and thought-provoking as she ensures that emotional beats land with profound impact.
Both touching and compelling, GHOSTLIGHT underscores the ways art has the capacity to illuminate the darkest corners of our lives. It's one of the year’s best films.
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