Three weeks before the first performance of 'Enter The Ghost' on stage, Pitman was admitted to West Middlesex Hospital and underwent life-saving surgery to operate on a compressed carotid artery, after sustaining damage to his neck at his local martial arts academy. Injuries of this kind often result in serious brain damage, if not death and it was doubtful if the show would be going ahead. Against the advice of his doctors, Pitman proceeded to perform the 3 hour show every night for 2 weeks (playing 17 different roles simultaneously) just 10 days after being discharged.
Props, costume and set design are filled with references to other Shakespeare plays. For instance, Hamlet drinks 'Macbeth Whiskey' whilst Claudius prefers 'Arden Wine' referencing the forest in As You Like It. Polonius reads his 'parting words of wisdom' from the Oxford Complete Works of William Shakespeare. The Gravediggers cut paper from Dr Horace Howard Furness' notoriously excessive 'New Variorum' edition of 'Richard III' and Ophelia's murderers' clean the crime scene with 'Iago Bleach'. Claudius' final reckoning with 'the pearl' is found in a bottle of 'Falstaff Beer'.
Although these connections may not always seem immediately obvious, the 'flash-sideways' share emotional or literal resonance with the words spoken and scenes being depicted on stage; in both worlds Ophelia fell in love with a local 'lord', who himself was given to passionate fits of madness and violence, ultimately being responsible for the death of her father, her isolation, madness and eventual suicide.
Ophelia's dresses were a pre-existing collection called 'Ophelia' created by world-famous fashion designer Beatrice Korlekie and based on Shakespeare's infamous character. They were hand tailored and express themes around water (such as in the tendrils of turquoise sequins), love (such as the fabric cut into red roses) and entrapment (such as the black netting in another). Korlekie and Pitman met at an exhibition in Peckham in 2015 at the relative early stages of their respective careers. She is credited as Costume Designer in the end credits of all three episodes.
Blackmore, Pitman and Shah (the principle creatives behind the project) met at The Magpie & Crown in Brentford, a local pub in the area they all frequented in 2015. Shah was known as 'The Mayor of Brentford' for his sheer popularity in the community and the collaboration formed the basis for a life-long friendship that survives to this day.
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