Blithe Spirit

Noel Coward himself called Blithe Spirit an “improbable farce” although he simultaneously knew it was witty and that it would be a hit. Since its first outing in 1941 it has gone down as one of the greatest of all classic plays, giving as much entertainment now as it ever has. There is simply nothing else quite like it. That many of the audience will already be familiar with the story is both a blessing and a curse for anyone wishing to stage it, as there are inherent expectations: Madame Arcati must be gloriously eccentric, funny and really quite bonkers; Ruth has to be prim and proper, and Elvira has to be ethereal, mischievous and a little Machiavellian. However, there are two essential points about Coward: whether academically or not, you need to have studied the play, as his plays have such magnificent layered depth; and that Coward’s plays have their own style in speaking: short clipped pronunciation is essential, and adds to the humour.

The sitting room has been created really well, with lovely attention to detail in the furnishings and props: the sofa, tables, desk, gramophone cupboard and vinyl records, the grandfather clock; and the French doors centre back opening outwards. There were some lovely lighting moments through these doors as well, showing dawn at the end, and showing evening moonlight earlier on in the play. The bookcases at the back with the shelves that collapsed at the end were great, with books cascading to the floor and the curtains falling off the pole at the end when chaos starts. A vase falling off the mantelpiece and smashing on the floor was a jump filled surprise and how gratifying to see a company prepared to properly break these things when the script calls for it. Closing the curtains between each scene was an interesting choice, unfortunately taking the audience out of the story of the play while looking at curtains in the dark for some minutes each time. The flow of the play could have been kept if for example the maid, in character, had simply cleared away glasses or reset a table cloth, and lighting changes could have signified time passing; and it would have been more interesting for the audience.

Another lovely detail were the costumes: Ruth’s prim and proper patterned dresses compared with Elvira’s floaty and flighty silver robes. The makeup effects for Elvira were also well thought out, and the long hair that Sadie Ghinn-Morris played with very naturally throughout her portrayal of Elvira was a lovely touch, adding a youthful coquettishness. Mrs Bradman’s floaty dresses worked well with her symbolising her traditionally feminine portrayal, complete with the way she kept putting her foot in it, albeit very slightly, in that kind of polite society it was very noticeable. Alison Shapley’s reactions to realising she’d said the wrong thing were really well done, adding a smile from the audience where there may not otherwise have been. Antony Barden started well in the role of the hapless Charles Condomine, and had some great shocked reactions on first seeing the ghost of his dead wife. These three have lovely stage presence. Much of the comedy happens in the scenes of misunderstandings between Charles and his two wives, where one can’t see or hear the other one, and the actors played not being able to see Elvira well. 

However, the one aspect that affected this production was the excessive use of prompts, which were sometimes repeated, and sometimes came when the actor was merely pausing. There was a good deal of restlessness and sighing in the audience as these episodes kept happening throughout, and in one scene every line then every other line was prompted for a significant portion of time. The unfortunate effects of this include an actor rushing the line they had been given, just saying it and not acting it, plus the actors losing confidence slowly through the play, not keeping in character and therefore not telling the story as well as they could and not using the needed clipped delivery: and for the audience, it can feel as if you are watching a rehearsal not a performance. This results in feeling overall as if the play is under rehearsed, and that the nuggets of gold in Coward’s writing haven’t been excavated enough for the audience to delight in, which is a shame with such a great play. It is therefore a production with potential that could do with more time.

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