Henrik Ibsen’s play Ghosts caused uproar among English critics when it first opened.

It was branded ‘nauseating and menacing’; ‘revoltingly suggestive and blasphemous’; ‘literary carrion’.

Now a new translation, directed by the Rose’s artistic director Stephen Unwin, is coming to the Rose later this year and will use sets designed by The Scream painter Edvard Munch – not seen on stage since a 1906 production in Berlin.

Unwin says: “It is the most brilliant play. It isn’t a ghost story. It’s that the ghosts of the past, if you’re not careful, can take over your life.

“The real shocker was that under this surface of apparent respectability these dark secrets lurk.

“I think that what the play says is ultimately the truth will out – but the truth is quite painful.”

Ghosts follows the tale of Helen Alving and her son Oswald, who she has tried to protect from his adulterous father’s influence.

She even goes so far as to plough Oswald’s inheritance into building an orphanage so he will not receive it.

Unwin says he thinks the play’s Nordic roots will appeal to audiences. He says: “People love The Killing and Borgen on the telly and there is something about that quality, which is in Ibsen, which is gripping, thrilling, stylish, and just appeals to people.”

He is about half-way through the translation work, he says, and hopes casting will be confirmed in the next couple of months.

Ghosts is a co-production with the English Touring Theatre, which Unwin founded 20 years ago. It will travel around the country after its run at the Rose.

Unwin adds: "For me it’s my swansong for the Rose, which is quite a personal moment after six years of running the place.”

Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, the Rose Theatre , High Street, Kingston; Thursday, September 19, to Saturday, October 12; £8-£25; visit rosetheatrekingston.org or call 08444 821556.