Blithe Spirit

It is said that Noel Coward believed the primary purpose of a play was to entertain and most certainly Blithe Spirit is a play that entertains.  Written 80 years ago its fantastical storyline has stood the test of time and this favourite of amateur companies all over the world has been interpreted countless times on stage and screen.  Few people can be unaware of it, so many come to each new production with some degree of expectation.  It seems like the perfect choice for Gweek Players’ welcome return to the stage and yet we know that it was selected over 20 months ago and was only weeks away from performance before national lockdowns obliged postponement after postponement.  The play is admirably suited to this company and its available resources and it is to your credit that enthusiasm continued through the intervening months so that this joyous romp could at last fill the village hall with an audience eager to see the Players back in action.  We were not disappointed and any micro-comments I make didn’t diminish the enjoyment, I can assure you!

The tabs were open as the audience arrived giving a view of a set with details that properly evoked the 1930s.  Dramatic art deco motifs were much in evidence flanking the stage, above french windows, on the upright chairs, around the fireplace and even on the wastepaper bin. A magnificent crescent-shaped shelving unit was dressed with objets d’art, and other items had been carefully selected for period - the overstuffed sofa, and occasional tables, one laden with drinks and a convincing candlestick telephone, and another topped with a period gramophone!  Beautiful silver and glass standard floor lamps provided practical lighting.  This was not a conventional box set, instead having only two side flats, the french windows and fireplace, while the upstage backdrop was floor to ‘ceiling’ bluey-grey silk curtains that extended above the lighting rig and, although they were decoratively swagged at the top, this detail was sadly masked by the several large parcans that seemed to dominate the backing.  Outside the french windows we saw a large plant but behind that was black masking that felt slightly unfinished and was unable to help indicate time of day.  Despite being full of furniture the set permitted free movement for all the characters none of whom, Coward would be pleased to note, bumped into it!  Overall the quality design, beautifully put together, with its grey/cream/black colour scheme was very attractive and promised much for what was to come.

The lighting technician was kept on his toes providing seance- and ghost-like moments as well as conventional on/off lights.  I suppose daytime lighting outside the windows would have meant just one too many lamps!  The direct spots clearly lit the group around the table but I was sorry it wasn’t more atmospheric…  a soft glow as if from the fire maybe?  I wasn’t able to see from my position whether there was a fire in the grate but we know the script calls for it.  If you don’t use the fire you lose the effect. The arrival of the ghost/s was announced by flashes of blue light on or behind the silk curtains and although they didn’t exactly coincide with the position of entry or light the general area around the doors it was an imaginative effect.  

Sound has an important role in this play.  Doorbells are easily provided and came without hitch.  The cuckoo sounded overly and unrealistically loud to me, feeling rather forced in.  After all, does it matter if it’s only audible to Madame Arcati?  The version of Always was congruous with the era and was well timed with the action at the gramophone, and the set change music of Housewives’ Choice was inspired. There was no attempt to indicate that the table raps came from the table!  Obviously it was a deliberate decision not to bump the table and had they been quieter I might have believed in them more, as if they came from the ‘ether’.  As it was they sounded strident and the sitters didn’t react as such.  I think I was hearing the recorded voices of Elvira and Ruth at the end but they’re not on stage so they could have been mic’d and the decision to use Haunted House was amusing.  All cues were picked up spot on time helping what appeared to be a technically smooth run.

The props ‘department’ excelled themselves with the gathering of an array of eye-catching and believably 1930s’ props.  The gramophone was quite splendid, as were the oh-so-perfect art deco coffee cups and Madame Arcati’s carpet bag full of suitable and well produced paraphernalia, and the doctor’s bag looked apt.  Trolleys-cum-wheeled tables allowed you to move furniture around easily and smaller props such as the ice bucket, cocktail shaker, glasses, trays and breakfast settings were handled efficiently.  Newspapers are a real problem!  Anything modern looks it, as does anything old!  Yours was clearly an attempt at providing a believable 1937 paper but it was so tatty and faded that it looked like a prop in a play - a genuine old paper that’s been in the loft for 70 years!  Maybe a modern Times and keep it folded to a quarter size…?  We definitely don’t need to see a full broadsheet open.  Congratulations on making the artificial cigarette-lighting look acceptable; though contemporary to the era it seems so odd to see smoking on stage nowadays. I did wonder why the shawl, tossed from Elvira to Ruth and ending up in the waste bin, was still there at the start of Act 2 “a few days later” - Edith not doing her job?    It was clever to turn dining chairs into period pieces with the addition of an art deco plaque.  

I know how challenging it can be to find authentic period clothing and much of it has to be created in-house or ends up as a compromise, so your collection, with changes for all, was well achieved and impressively added to the ambiance.  The full-length evening gowns and formal dinner suits of the first act looked just right but I felt Ruth’s daytime outfits were too short - I know hems were going up towards the end of the ‘30s but a slightly longer line is more flattering and the patterned skirt and white top did rather let the side down.  Edith’s black uniform was appropriate but fitted badly having slipped forward making it long at the front and far too short at the back particularly went she bent over!  She especially, as a servant, would not be following the fashion for shorter skirts and would be more likely to be in calf-length.  Madame Arcati’s excellent slightly Bohemian outfits worked very well and her headwear was admirably suitable, while Mrs Bradman made a tidy contrast.  Elvira in her silky bias negligee has no changes unlike Ruth who has to have a ghost copy of her final mortal appearance - both specially created, and Charles’s quilted smoking jacket was ideal. It’s clear a lot of work had gone into dressing this show.                                                                                                                                                                                           

Hair and make up again require respect for the period and this was evident in the stylised hair of Ruth, her perfectly suitable Cupid’s bow lips, and Charles’s smooth Brylcreem look. Unusually you chose not to use the classic Elvira grey/green make up, which naturally made life much easier for Ruth in her quick change - and saves the pillowcases!

Directing the Master’s work must be a joy, with so much in the way of given circumstance to follow and to help guide the creation.  Your deviations and cuts (what happened to poor Maskelyne?) didn’t upset the flow and your carefully selected cast worked well together.  Allowing us to absorb the attractive scenery before the play started meant we could instantly be attentive when the action began.  The opening scene set a cracking pace and we heard crisp, clipped RP assuring us that the actors knew their lines (20 months to learn them!).  Coward writes so well, drawing each character in both his/her own lines and those of the others, so it’s interesting to see the interpretations of each, e.g. it was refreshing to see Edith played as a comic rather than being a bit slow.  I’d have liked to see light and shade urged from Ruth to give her more depth of character instead of her constant rapid delivery; good though it was it became a little tiring.  You were so lucky to be provided with a beautiful gramophone but with its handle turned to us it was obvious that no one wound it up before it started playing - poetic licence, no doubt.  You moved the cast around the stage well using the space to advantage and without contrivance, and scene changes were swift and efficient.  I wonder if you managed to fix the doors that refused to close after Elvira’s entrance.  Despite all the references to draughts and being cold no one seemed to notice that they stood open for much of the action!  Do we all need a contingency plan for such eventualities?  The ending you’d chosen was acceptable and satisfying, if not as much fun as destroying the set, and we left with a warm feeling that we’d had a really good evening’s entertainment watching a cast of talented people working collectively to create a memorable performance.  The technicians and stage crew supported the venture whole-heartedly so you all have a right to be very proud of the finished product.

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