Ghosting in theatre is an interesting idea.  The principle goes that if something has been used in a show before then that object begins to have being beyond that of its purpose with that the current performance is using it.  This does not only apply to objects but to people and character.  Take Hamlet for example, a character that gets played a lot by a lot of different people, regardless of whether or not the audience intends to they will judge the actor playing Hamlet on the previous performance they have seen, or maybe they hold one interpretation above others.  This means that the character of Hamlet has many ghosts connected to it.  But then actors also have ghosts; sticking to the theme of Hamlet and one performance in particular, David Tenant as Hamlet.  Here a well know actor for his work in Dr. Who played the iconic role of Hamlet.  David Tenant’s performances contained ghosts as the audience would be expecting to see the Doctor on stage.  This works for this performance as they are able to combine Hamlet and the Doctor into the one character that was seen in that performance of Hamlet.

So ghosting within performances can be good and bad.  For instant Kelsey Grammer hid his identity so that he could be taken more seriously in a role he was playing.  This was to prevent people from thinking of him as Frasier from his hit TV show, Frasier.  Here is a clear example of when ghosting goes wrong, or at the very least could have negative effects on a performance.  From these it would seem that ghosting is a form of audience interpretation, a way of judging and recognising items and people on stage.  This is not true for all production as some go out of their way to use actors that are unknown, but it is almost impossible to choose someone that no one will recognise.

Quick Andrew, (2009) The Stay of Illusion, Taylor & Francis Ltd