BLITHE SPIRIT
Ruth (Georgie Condon) and Charles (Luke Hayes) Condomine are happily married. He is an author in search of inspiration – or in-spirit-ation. Enlisting the support of Dr (Owen Morgan) and Mrs (Olivia France) Bradman, and the ‘expertise’ of spiritualist Madame (Charlotte Christie) Arcati, and despite the frenetic service of Edith (Anna Cartwright), the sextet embark on an outrageous descent into tragedy. It’s not long before Elvira (Charlotte Harkness) Condomine is back from the dead and wanting to reclaim her place in Charles’s heart and life. Not if Ruth can help it. Though it doesn’t help that Mme Arcati is beside herself (even outside herself) with excitement over a successful emanation at last (not to mention the ectoplasm).
Good old Noel Coward. But more importantly, very good young thespians. The first night was a riot of laughter and surprise (not least the mystery of the collapsing chair-leg and Elvira’s wonderful ‘show must go on’ comeback). The time capsule of late thirties England was captured to a tee, and tea, my dear, with the sublime staging and costumes playing very much an equal part alongside the words and action. Caricature without cliché, this was farce at its best, with the actors playing off each other with a maturity of agility and understanding well beyond their years. It was the little things as much as the grand gestures – the tilt of a hand, the choice of an emphasis – which added to the success of the evening. The members of the audience delighted in it, recognising themselves and others no doubt in so much of the action. And the audience was of ages eight to eighty (if not wider), so the width of the appeal was all the more impressive.
It is always a thrill when the three strands of direction, action, and staging all come together so triumphantly. Congratulations one and all.