Ghost from a Perfect Place

Ghost from a Perfect Place is a two act play by Philip Ridley.[1] It was Ridley's third stage play and premiered at the Hampstead Theatre, London on 7 April 1994. The part of Travis Flood was played to much acclaim by the veteran, classical actor John Wood. The production was the third collaboration between Ridley and director Matthew Lloyd, who had directed all of Ridley's previous stage plays[2] and would go on to direct Ridley's next play for adults Vincent River in 2000.[3]

The play is the third and final instalment in Ridley's unofficially titled "East End Gothic Trilogy", having been preceded by The Pitchfork Disney and The Fastest Clock In The Universe.[4][5]

The play caused a great deal of controversy at its premiere due to a scene where an old East London gangster, played by Wood, is tortured by a gang of girls. The theatre critic of The Guardian, Michael Billington, described the play as "degrading and quasi-pornographic." As with most of Ridley's work, however, the critical response was deeply divided, with Sheridan Morley describing it as "a masterpiece" and John Peter, of The Sunday Times, declaring, "Ridley's work is an acquired taste and it looks like I'm getting it."

The play along with Ridley's The Pitchfork Disney and The Fastest Clock In The Universe grew in reputation years after their initial productions for being seminal works in the development of in-yer-face theatre.[6][7] The terminology for this theatrical sensibility and style was popularised by Aleks Sierz in his 2001 book In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today, which also features a section that analyses Ghost from a Perfect Place and its initial reception.[8] Sierz has also cited the play as one of the first to be indirectly called "in-yer-face" by a critic,[9] with Paul Taylor in his review for The Independent describing the girl gang in the play as "the in-yer-face castrating trio".[10]