By amateur dramatics editor Martin Brisland.
The Maskers maintain their usual high standards with their latest production. Blithe Spirit is a 1941 comic play by Noel Coward, described by the author as “an improbable farce” which imagines what may happen if we could contact the spiritual world. This experiment with the supernatural quotes Shakespeare’s Hamlet who says to Horatio “There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy”.
Coward’s play concerns the novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium Madame Arcati to his house in Kent to conduct a seance.He is hoping to research material for his next book. The scheme backfires when he is haunted by the ghost of his wilful first wife, Elvira. After the séance. Elvira makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles’s marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost.
The play opened in London in 1941 and ran for 1,997 performances until 1946, setting a new record for a non-musical play. This was only later surpassed by the Mousetrap in 1957.
The Times considered the play the equal of Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest. With Hay Fever and Private Lives, Blithe Spirit is one of Coward’s indisputable comic masterpieces.
The play has withstood the test of time with a film made in 1945 and another film version in 2020. Coward directed a musical adaptation, High Spirits, on Broadway and in the West End in 1964.
Don’t miss this production at Shirley’s own intimate studio theatre which is an absolute hidden gem near Shirley High Street. If you haven’t yet visited then it’s about time you did.
Kate Grundy-Garcia was perfect as Ruth, the bossy second wife. The role of Madame Arcati demands a standout over the top performance and this was superbly delivered by Jane Russell. Katy de Haviland really captures the mischievous first wife Elvira as she toys with husband Charles. This role is played by the experienced Jonathan Barney-Marmont who has two wives to keep happy. Maddy Cope, Duncan Randall and Sue Dashper are all very effective in their supporting roles.
A particular well done to the production team who made tables levitate, curtains blow and vases smash to the ground and play the classic Irving Berlin 1926 song Always which is central to the plot.
The title of the play is a line taken from Shelley’s poem To a Skylark, “Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!”
I say Hail to the Maskers! The play, directed by Maskers stalwart Philip de Grouchy, runs until Saturday 28th October. Tickets available from maskers.org.uk
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