EVIDENTLY set to become a staple of the Dublin stage, Stephen Mallatratt's adaptation of Susan Hill's fustian ghost story, set in England in the inter war years, has been given a welcome injection of vitality by Michael Scott in this stylish, atmospheric new production.

In an age before professional therapy, a troubled, ageing solicitor, Arthur Kipps (Alan Stanford), elicits help from an actor (Simon O'Gorman) to help him tell a story from his past in an attempt to experience some kind of catharsis. Bit by bit they re enact the tale, with Kipps initially diffident, unimaginative and literal.

He watches the actor portray his younger self while he fills in all the other parts and narrates the events that unfolded when he was sent on legal business to a remote country house after the death of its owner, a reclusive widow.

While Simon O'Gorman and Alan Stanford slip easily between roles, their impeccable, energetic performances can't disguise the length, of time spent on unengaging, wordy scene setting in this play; the first half has a laborious, stop start rhythm as the two men switch from past to present. But the second act's climactic, spooky scenes, when they come, are rendered here with a great theatrical flourish, enhanced by Michael McCaffrey's set design, Geoffrey Joyce's dramatic lighting and an explosive soundtrack.

Perhaps, at last, this ghost may be laid to rest.