Blithe Spirit

A beautiful set greeted us as we joined the audience, this worked well during the production, and I particularly liked the ‘secret’ entrance used by Elvira to appear and disappear.

Some might say that this play, by Noel Coward, is a bit dated. Personally, I loved the way Director Josh Handley had faithfully recreated the period, it suited the story well.

Michael Southgate played Charles Condomine well, he was a little stilted in the first half, but this was the first performance, and he settled into it by the second half. Cody Gray played his wife Ruth beautifully, with great style and just the right inference of her strong personality. Sophie Nash played the first wife Elvira who appeared as a ghost throughout. This was another good performance, she showed Elvira’s personality well and was very entertaining. 

Jill Snelling (Violet Bradman) and Trevor Poverty (Dr George Bradman) both produced excellent characterisations and Lily Edmeades was gave a perfect portrayal of the maid, usually a small part but crucial to this play.

The cast was completed by Torie Grayling playing the iconic Madame Arcati. Torie’s performance was good, but I do think it could have been much more ‘over the top’. This character has so many opportunities to create good comedy, and I felt a lot of those opportunities had been missed. Still entertaining though.

As I have already mentioned, the scenery was excellent although I do have one comment. Because there was a large mirror over the fireplace there were a number of occasions when we saw Elvira’s reflection in it. As she was a ghost this should not have been possible! Maybe a picture would have been better and there was another mirror further upstage which did not show Elvira’s reflection and was used effectively.

The costumes were spot on and beautifully presented, Ruths changes, in particular, were very effective and created the right ambiance for the period.

I really enjoyed the play, we were welcomed and hosted well, this is such an important part of our visit as it allows the reviewer to have discussions with some of the team.

Thank you for a very enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

Tessa Davies

Councillor

On behalf of Natalie Hills District 10 Rep

 

 

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