Try a new game; that will narrow down if it is a problem with Divinity or the saved game itself.
Uninstalling and re-installing should usually fix corrupt file problems. It is not inconceivable that your optical drive could have a problem extracting certain files, but no error is produced during the install, though it is a long shot.
Did you try running the configuration program and switching to software mode, lowering the resolution, turning down/off hardware sound acceleration, etc?
Can you hold the shift key down and move the screen focus over that area? I can't recall anything unique there (besides the forge/smith graphics and sound effects) so I don't know what could be causing a problem/conflict.
