Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit is a comedy by national treasure Noel Coward that first appeared on stage in 1941 but continues to delight audiences to this day. Novelist Charles Condomine and his wife Ruth invite eccentric medium Madame Arcati to dinner to learn some tricks of the trade for a book he is writing. They unwittingly unleash the ghost of his late wife Elvira, who causes no end of difficulties for Charles and his wife, and proves very hard to get rid of. Despite being written in only six days, it is well constructed and full of Coward’s wit. It could not be more quintessentially English if it tried.

The curtains opened to the most magnificent box set – totally Art Deco with black and gold walls and dressed with good-looking furniture in the same style. Full marks to the set design, construction and props teams – it was mightily impressive! Costumes too, especially the ladies’ beautiful dresses (Liz McKellar) were stunning, totally in period – and they all had at least one change of clothes. Lighting and sound (Messrs. Hollingsworth, MacCormack and Henry) were excellent too.

Charles Condomine was in the safe hands of James Batchelor – the epitome of suaveness and sophistication, but increasingly flustered and frustrated when dealing with both his wives at the same time. He was well matched by Anne McCormack as his sensible and rather prudish second wife Ruth. She portrayed her growing jealousy well, with a nice line in humouring him when she decides he’s insane! Jackie Foster’s Madame Arcati was a master class in playing this eccentric, effusive, rather boisterous character, with some wonderful mannerisms, quirks and rapid speech, but all the time keeping it real. She could make me laugh out loud without even speaking! Rowenna Gordon was marvellous as the spirit of Charles’ first wife Elvira. Flighty, passionate and capricious, determined to regain her husband’s love by making their lives unbearable. She totally nailed the character. When Ruth joined her in the spirit world, they were undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with.

The Condomine’s maid Edith was played well by Cristina Collier, nervous and worried, madly dashing around – to the extent that the small stage allowed. Paul Foster’s Doctor Bradman was nicely solid and reliable, but rather stuffy and sceptical. He was well matched by Karen Curran as his rather traditional, naive and faded wife Violet.

Despite relying on the prompt a few too many times (well done Sharon Bittner for being so discrete), the play maintained a good pace and the humour was brought out well. The scene changes were made swiftly and efficiently by the stage crew.

It’s a tribute to the quality of Noel Coward’s writing that situations and humour that are over eighty years old can still entertain an audience in the 21st century. It is also a tribute to the talent of Director Teresa Encke and the actors on stage that the capacity audience had such an enjoyable evening’s entertainment. Thank you and bravo!

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