Preview: Ghosts, Gate Theatre, London

A drama that's nothing if not spirited

"People hated Ghosts when it premiered because they were shocked by how radical it was," says Anna Mackmin, associate director of the Gate. "A lot of the play still feels radical and fresh even now, and that's why I wanted to direct it."

Written in 1881, Henrik Ibsen's scathing commentary on late-19th century morality has been stripped down to its elements in this new version by Amelia Bullmore, designed by the Tony Award-winning Lez Brotherston. The Norwegian playwright's powerful and controversial play embraces such "taboo" topics as venereal disease, incest, fidelity and euthanasia, and Mackmin's production doesn't flinch from addressing these weighty subjects.

"The only thing that's difficult about these topics is that they are numerous in the play, and crop up quickly, one after the other," says Mackmin. "The danger of that is that the form and structure of the play can feel like melodrama, and we didn't want to go that way."

Certain elements of Ibsen's drama are unavoidably melodramatic, however. The tale centres on Mrs Alving and her marriage to an incorrigible drunken roué. In despair, she flees to her friend, the divinity student Manders. However, the young religious man's advice is stark: "Your duty was to firmly hold to the man you had once chosen and to whom you were bound by a holy tie." Manders promptly sends Mrs Alving back to her debauched husband and to her wifely duties.

Mackmin is attracted to Manders' overwhelming sense of duty and passionate nature. "A woman comes to him in the middle of the night and throws herself at him," says Mackmin. "She says, 'My husband's an arsehole', basically, 'and I love you', and Manders has to make the biggest decision of his life. The next 20 years are about him justifying that decision. I think it's a really sexy part."

Real-life partners Finbar Lynch and Niamh Cusack play Manders and Mrs Alving respectively, which should ratchet up the sexual tension even more.

6 January to 17 February (020-7229 0706; www.gatetheatre.co.uk)