Blithe Spirit

Novelist Charles Condomine invites the eccentric medium Madame Arcati to his house to conduct a séance, in the hope of gathering material for his latest book, only he gets rather more than he bargains for. The ghost of his delicious first wife Elvira appears, and remains to haunt him. Elvira makes many attempts to sabotage his second marriage to Ruth, who of course is unable to see or hear the ghost. Ruth at first thinks Charles is losing his mind, and later makes frantic efforts to send Elvira back to ‘the other side’, and chaos ensues. This well-loved play premiered in 1941, having been written just after Coward’s flat had been destroyed in the Blitz. It seems somewhat odd to write a comedy about ghostly visitations in wartime Britain, where death was a constant presence, but evidently Coward had toyed with the idea of a play about ghosts for some time. The play was written in 6 days, and Coward knew it would be a success. I wonder whether he would have guessed that it would be such a long-lasting success well into the 21st century, still delighting audiences 80 years later! As Director Murray Stephen says in his notes: ‘Blithe Spirit is brilliantly witty, and also manages to make the characters well-rounded despite a – shall we say – fantastic plot’.

The Nomads are extremely fortunate in having their own professionally designed theatre, with raked seating, all the latest equipment, and a new large bar.

An attractive programme design with interesting cast profiles, good Director’s profile and notes, and information about the Nomads.

A very pleasing set presented a typical pre-war drawing room, with attractive furniture, paintings, bookshelves, fireplace with mantelpiece adorned with various ornaments, and a rather important gramophone with a collection of 78 records. Other props included vases of flowers, cocktail equipment, coffee cups and the like. The set revealed the entrance hallway and staircase at the back, and to the right a French window opening onto the attractive looking garden. A very comfortable arrangement altogether.

The right mood was set before curtain-up and between scenes by the use of a recording of Coward himself singing some of his marvellous songs. Lighting was used very effectively to reflect the different times of day, and the séance scene. Lighting and sound were used most wonderfully in the chaos of the final moments as the raging ghosts wrecked the room.

Charles wore a very fetching smoking jacket throughout, as one would expect in a Coward drawing room comedy. Ruth wore an attractive evening gown for the dinner party. Madame Arcati wore a kind of turban and long flowing garments, together with flamboyant beads for the séance scene, and toned these down somewhat for her subsequent visits. The most stunning costume, of course, was that worn by Elvira, a silver-grey floaty creation, with delicate shawl. She was all in silver, in fact, including her ghostly makeup and pretty hair. Later Ruth’s red day dress also became silver-grey, makeup and hair too, as she became apparition number two.

This was a well-crafted production, that started calmly and worked up to a final frenzy at the end. We began by watching Ruth Condomine (Moyra Brookes) preparing her hapless new maid Edith (Amelia Potten) in the correct way to receive guests. This was a frustrating process, as Edith was a somewhat slow learner, who in her anxiety, would move at a run, rather than at a calm, walking pace. We warmed to poor Edith, a good performance from Amelia. Charles Condomine, played with a satisfying, Noel Coward sort of sophistication by Michael Ayres, entered and served martinis, allaying the nervous Ruth’s fears about the forthcoming séance and the possibility that Madame Arcati was a charlatan. We heard for the first time of Elvira, Charles’ first wife, and one sensed Ruth’s natural curiosity about this relationship, and her own insecurity. Forthright and organised though Ruth always was, Moyra Brookes played this vulnerable side to her character skilfully.

Dr and Mrs Bradman (David Hannigan and Nikky Kirkup) arrived, and the tension rose as they awaited the arrival of Madame Arcati. All expressed their scepticism, and Charles explained the purpose was simply to gain experience to help with his new book, but they exuded a mild excitement and curiosity as to what was to come nevertheless.

Madame Arcati exploded onto the scene, dinner was taken, and the séance then began. Madame Arcati was played with great gusto by Judy Abbot, who conveyed her confidence, and yet her slightly surprised excitement when an apparition did occur very well indeed.

Andrea Charles excelled as the whimsical Elvira, floating about the stage, in her teasing way wrapping Charles round her little finger, with that fetching tilt of the head, and altogether charming demeanour. Later, of course, she proved to be a wicked schemer. She was the perfect Elvira.

But that scheme came back to haunt her, literally, when Ruth returned from the dead. And so the humour and chaos increased, delighting the audience in the final stages even more. There was a huge gasp as the ghosts’ rage resulted in total mayhem, as the pictures fell off the walls, the lamps wobbled, the books fell off the shelves, a vase flew across the room, and the gramophone steamed fit to explode! Hilarious! Fantastic effects, team!

Murray Stephen and his super cast and great backstage team provided a fine evening of Noel Coward enchantment.

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