Barrymore's Ghost - Acting Edition

by Jason Miller

Barrymore's Ghost opens up the life of the legendary actor, John Barrymore, in a unique, theatrical manner. Mr. John Barrymore, or Jack Barrymore, or Jake Barrymore, is presented as a ghost haunting an unknown theater, which, at the moment, is in rehearsal for a play. The gods have sentenced Barrymore to this purgatorial existence as penance for his abandonment of the theater and squandering of his talents, in pursuit of fame, greed, and dissipation. Barrymore disputes these assertions of the gods as he painfully and humorously examines the spectrum of his life. He chronicles his ascendancy to the throne as the finest classical actor of his generation; his arrival to the pinnacle of movie stardom; his intimate and compassionate relationships with his sister Ethel and his brother Lionel; and the explosive debacles of his four marriages. The play has wit, terror, agony and hope, as we watch a mythical character explore the truths and deceptions of his extraordinary life.

Genres: Plays

72 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Jason Miller was an Oscar-nominated actor and Pulitzer-winning playwright, known for his role as Father Karras in The Exorcist and for his popular play That Championship Season (which he also directed for film.)

Reviews

[John Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play illustrates why I dislike hanging out with actors.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melancholy and moving. Miller channels Barrymore in perhaps the most personal of his works.