Film and stage actress Amy Irving will star as Mrs. Alving in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts at Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company, beginning Oct. 31. The tense family drama, adapted by Lanford Wilson and directed by Daniel Fish (True Love), will open Nov. 10 and play through Dec. 8, 2002.

Irving was Oscar-nominated for her role opposite Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin in "Yentl." Her Broadway credits include the Roundabout's 1997 Three Sisters, Broken Glass, Heartbreak House and Amadeus. She was also featured in the film version of "I'm Not Rappaport."

Irving joins a season which already includes Kathleen Chalfant in Savannah Bay and David Strathairn and Timothy Blake Nelson in The Winter's Tale.

Chalfant won nearly every award available for an Off-Broadway actress for 1998's Wit. In Savannah Bay, she will play an aging mother interrogated by her daughter, who seeks to truly know her parent. While exploring issues of identity and growing old, the language-intensive Dumas exposes the secrets of the older woman's life, all to the daughter's surprise and shock. Savannah Bay will finish the CSC season, playing May 29-June 29, 2003.

Strathairn most recently appeared on Broadway in The Dance of Death opposite Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen. Actor-writer-director Nelson is perhaps best known for his quirky film roles in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Minority Report." Strathairn will play The Winter's Tale's jealous King Leontes, while Nelson will be the trickster Autolycus. CSC's artistic director Barry Edelstein (The Underpants) will direct the dark comedy, playing Jan. 15-Feb. 23, 2003. Single tickets are $50 with a half price discount for CSC members. Membership costs $30. Classic Stage Company is located at 136 East 13th St. and on the web at http://www.classicstage.com.

— By Christine Ehren