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Blithe Spirit is a sharp-witted, if somewhat misogynistic, comedy written by Noël Coward that originally debuted on stage in 1941 in the West End, and has since gone on to be adapted into films, television plays, a radio broadcast and even a musical.
The plot follows Charles Condomine, a novelist whose first wife died at a young age; he has since remarried Ruth Condomine. The play begins with Charles having invited Madame Arcati, an eccentric medium, to perform a séance in their home, for the purpose of researching his next novel.
What is meant to be a night where Charles, his wife and their friends Mr and Mrs Bradman, are humouring the local mad woman in her attempts to connect with the spirit world, turns into a living nightmare for the pompous author. Madame Arcati unintentionally brings forth the spirit of Charles's deceased wife Elvira; now Charles must suffer through his past and present meeting, while also getting a certain depraved thrill out of his first and current wife fighting for his affections.
Having thoroughly enjoyed reading this play and seen a couple of other productions, I went in looking forward to seeing what the talented actors, director and production team would bring to Coward's classic.
Honestly the only thing I found frustrating when watching was that I knew how difficult making this review balanced would be, because of how difficult it was to find fault with this production. All I can really say was that in the first scene during the playful back and forth between Charles (David Hankinson) and Ruth (Anna Fiorentini) I felt that Hankinson delivered some of Charles's quips at a bit of a rapid pace, more spitting them back at his co-star, which dampened the comedic delivery of the lines. However, in saying that, I thought that once the character of Elvira (Sophie
King) was introduced that Hankinson played off on that situation very well, and really grew into the role of Charles as the play continued. Particularly by the end of the first act and the beginning of the second act, Hankinson had captured that loathsome, spoilt man-child quality that makes Charles's character simultaneously a repulsive human being you can't help but roll your eyes at, while also being able to finding his antics in dealing with this unique love triangle so hysterical you wanted to see more of the character.
There are two specific performances that stood out in this play. The first being Anna Fiorentini's portrayal of Ruth Condomine; it was one of the best that I have seen so far. The characters strong will and no-nonsense attitude, even when she is being hounded by a bitter ghost, gave a perfect balance to Charles's narcissistic and selfish demeanour. Fiorentini's depiction of Ruth's emotional responses were so raw that I genuinely felt her frustration towards Charles during their more heated confrontations. Typical was her blunt delivery of the line - "My husband has driven her into Folkestone. Apparently, she was anxious to see an old friend of hers who is staying at the Grand."
In just those two sentences, Fiorentini managed to convey just how ludicrous Ruth found the very notion of her husband driving a ghost anywhere, provoking a loud round of empathetic laughter from the audience.
The second performance that was truly amazing was Alison Liney as Madame Arcati, a very difficult character I find to make believable. Other depictions I have seen have presented the character as an over-the-top, arm waving lunatic who just appears deranged. Liney's physical comedy, whether she is reacting to the news of a spirit or warming up to perform her séance is much more subtle, meaning that her unpredictable actions never wore thin and repeatedly caught audience members off guard each time. Liney's portrayal of Madame Arcati as a delightfully eccentric woman, who has belief in the spirit world comes across as endearing; the kind of slightly mad individual you want to see again. For me every time she appeared on stage, it added just that bit more of excitement and joy to the play.
There was only thing that I can think to find fault with, and I do it begrudgingly because Myriam Laurent played the part of Edith very well. Despite this it felt like a different from expected portrayal. This Edith came across as nervy, but with a more excitable, positive nervous energy. However, I see the character of Edith as having a sense of despair, a more pathetic or tragic character clumsily weaving her way through all the chaos in the household. To me this would have made the revelation about Edith at the end of the play more believable, not to mention shocking; whereas when watching this play having her play a significant part in the final resolution felt more out of place, and somewhat pointless.
Even so the chemistry between the cast as a whole is palpable, as they played off each other perfectly. Particularly in the scene with the séance, despite Liney taking centre stage as Madame Arcati preparing to contact the spirits, I could not help but be drawn back to watching the other cast members small but brilliant reactions. And any moment where Charles was literally the middle-man between his feuding, living wife and deceased wife had me hunched over in my seat with anticipation with what they were going to do next. The heart of his play was honestly a gifted cast that managed to blend together with such ease.
One final bit of praise has to go to the team responsible for the wonderful set (Jude Chalk) and special effects. A danger when doing a play with any supernatural element, is that sometimes the work that can go into creating illusions can end up looking ridiculous or cheesy. But the final visual illusion that involves Charles standing between his two wives, managed to be effective without giving it an exaggerated effect. This goes to show what has been said about the Tower Theatre by many others. Yes, the people behind these productions are volunteers, and the actors are amateurs; however, these productions are far from amateur. The standard of the performance is just as high as any you would get in a West End theatre.
Photography by Robert Piwko
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