Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit

Broughton Astley Drama Society (BADS)

October 2024

Blithe Spirit is today possibly the best-known of Noel Coward’s stage plays. Written in 1940, its period was contemporary, though suggests a 1930’s setting. Plays written then can today seem wordy and dated. Capturing its original freshness eighty years later needs sensitive and intelligent handling.

This production by BADS was in safe hands. The setting, staging and script were virtually as originally written, yet in no way did the production seem dated. The witty dialogue flowed at pace, and the 1940’s ‘home counties’ English characterisations were sustained throughout.

The setting

The enjoyment began before the first character appeared. The set conveyed in attractive detail the play’s period and its location in the living room of an upper middle-class family home in Kent. As a result, the audience was able to feel at ease with the play’s context even before the action started.

When it did start, with the entrance of the maid, Edith, we had an early indication of the strong comedic theme of the evening.

The characters

The story revolves around author Charles Condomine and his wife Ruth, together with the ghost of Charles’s first wife Elvira. In doing so, it incorporates their friends Dr & Mrs Bradman, and a delightfully eccentric medium Madame Arcati, whose doubtful talents, engaged as research for Charles’s next novel, inadvertently summon a ghostly Elvira from beyond the grave.

I’ve mentioned the maid. Emma Laing’s performance as the inexperienced but eager to please Edith was a delight, her facial expressions, movement and comedy timing making more of this small part than, I suspect, even Noel Coward envisaged. Edith’s opening scene, with Ruth, got the play off to a great start.

The role of Charles is a key feature of the story, and the unravelling self-confidence of his character crucial to the narrative. Richard Tomlinson performed the role with a suave assurance. His articulate delivery of an enormous amount of dialogue and his characterisation of the witty, urbane author seemingly content with life was maintained throughout.

Charles’s wife, Ruth, is an important part of the story. In this role, Claire Simpson was every bit the sophisticated and respectable home counties lady. Her clipped accent demonstrated elegantly how, when required, stage dialogue can be delivered at pace without losing coherence. Claire entertainingly conveyed Ruth’s English county refinement and her incredulous irritation at her husband’s hallucinations.

Rachael Eames as the principal hallucination, the ghost of Charles’s first wife, perfectly illustrated the scheming and carefree life Elvira had enjoyed during her earthly existence, and her selfish determination to spoil any new happiness. Rachael’s floating movements and mischievous activities convincingly demonstrated Elvira’s spiritual presence in a household she was determined to disrupt.

Jacky Bingley excelled in the strong comedy role of the spiritual medium, Madame Arcati, the character whose activities accidentally complicate life for everyone by bringing Elvira back to torment Charles and Ruth. Jacky’s portrayal of the bewildered spiritualist and unwitting cause of paranormal mayhem, surprised when her ‘séance’ actually worked, was convincing and entertaining.

The family friends of the Condomines, Dr & Mrs Bradman, were a strong support, both as characters in the story and in their performances by Peter James and Kiri Hargreaves. Kiri played the cosily respectable and amusingly tactless Mrs Bradman effectively, her carefully articulated dialogue delivered in convincingly ‘typically English’ tones. Peter also played the supportive and reliable friend with assurance, demonstrating professional consideration when required, and considerable scepticism when faced with the occult.

The production

The quality of this production was testimony to its excellent direction by Jen Hawkins, whose well-known attention to detail and instinct for effective drama was again evident. Besides the strong performances, and as individual examples of thoughtful detail, I loved the décor of the Condomine’s house, the clever contrast between the appearance of the two ghosts, and the startling poltergeist destruction at the end. Jen, and the production itself, were well supported by strong technical, costume and stage management teams, all of which played effective parts in this success.

Congratulations to all concerned.

Colin Blackler

Noda

 

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.