If you’ve ever studied drama, you’ll know the work of Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright and rabble rouser responsible for some of the greatest plays of the late 19th century. “A Doll’s House.” “Enemy of the People.” “Hedda Gabler.” And the masterpiece “Ghosts,” which runs through Nov. 8 at TheatreWorks.

Written in 1881, Ibsen’s follow-up to “A Doll’s House” broaches scandalous topics of the age, including venereal disease, loose morals among the elite and euthanasia. Even 10 years after it was published, the Daily Telegram branded it an “open drain: a loathsome sore unbandaged; a dirty act done publicly.”

More than 100 years later these topics hardly raise hackles, but we still live inside the lines drawn by society. And in a sense, Helen’s struggle to hold her world together is ours, however different it looks.

On the third night of the run, Theatre- Works failed to pluck much of this ripe fruit. Fumbled lines, missed cues and inexplicable staging aside, key portrayals lacked the emotional nuance, variation and power required to take this arguably antiquated tale out of the realm of melodrama and into universal truth. They just didn’t appear quite ready for an audience.

As the play begins, Helen (Sharon Andrews, one of the company’s founders) is concluding the business of opening an orphanage built to memorialize her late husband. She reveals to her disbelieving adviser, pastor Manders (Dan Mason), that the truth of the gesture – and of her life as a whole – was much more complex. Although Helen’s husband was a respected member of their remote community, he was both a drunk and dedicated philanderer. The orphanage and her life of lies was designed to cover his shabby character and, ultimately, her son Oswald’s reputation.

“It’s not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that walks in us,” Helen says. “It’s all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we can’t get rid of them.”

She realizes that her precious son, who has just returned from Paris, wasn’t spared his father’s dark legacy. Her life of self-sacrifice was all but wasted.

Russell Parkman’s set was meaningfully spare: Only a set of floor-to-ceiling sheers dividing a dining room overlooking the mountains from a community room with a long table and four chairs. There’s almost no color here, just austere pale wood interrupted by the pop of Helen’s purple and white dress. (Betty Ross, TheatreWorks’ longtime costume designer, made a brief return from retirement for this show, to terrific effect.)

Andrews certainly looked the part, with help from Ross and Jonathan Eberhardt’s lovely wig. But she seemed uncomfortable with her lines, especially in the long, pivotal first scene with Mason, who struggled as well. We heard Helen describe herself, her history and her feelings, but Andrews rarely hinted at the character’s real emotional core. Without it, her presence is more like a placeholder for the complexities, vulnerability and dimension of a real woman.

Mason never got a firm handle on Manders, and like Andrews, didn’t project a solid sense of humanity. Missed cues and lines culled by sheer force of will only added to the problem.

Add that up and their scenes lacked any of the tension (or connection) that would reasonably have arisen from their encounter and that would have set the stage for the final act.

Director Murray Ross’ strange blocking must have contributed to the actors’ struggles. The cast often churned around the stage without clear intent.

As Oswald, Christian O’Shaughnessy managed to make it work for his dissolute character. Sick and crushed by guilt and disappointment, his Oswald moves from spot to spot as if itching to find the joy he’s lost. His Oswald was crippled, but ultimately a man of many facets. Desperate. Loving. Haunted. Hateful. Kind. His work in “Ghosts” was excellent, perhaps the best I’ve ever seen from this young actor.

As a final note, the two performances before I attended were considered previews and offered at a discount. This is the first TheatreWorks production to offer formal previews. As Managing Director Will Prenevost explained to me, they give the cast and crew real-life feedback through performances with a paying audience. “Everyone in the process – actors, directors, designers, even stagehands – love having previews to get the show more fully prepared.”

It’s a good idea. And I hope in the future that it does indeed pan out that way.

Dan Mason and Sharon Andrews star in “Ghosts” at TheatreWorks. Photo credit: Isaiah Downing.

Tracy Mobley-Matinez Saturday December 13, 2014. Photo by Jeff Kearney

Jeff Keaerney