Shaw Festival production of Blithe Spirit is spirited fun

I can't remember the 19th-century couple's names I read about quite some time ago but the story has stayed with me.  The wife dies at a relatively early age but just before she goes, she warns her husband he had better find a new wife within the first year of her passing or she will come back to haunt him.  Apparently a true story!

I thought about that story while making my selections for reviewing at this season's Shaw Festival, and how it resonated somewhat with me in my own personal situation.  Mind you, it's been three years now so the one year limit has long since expired.

That said, Elvira in Noel Coward's play "Blithe Spirit" has also expired, and indeed has come back to haunt her husband, Charles.  In this case, wife number one seems not too impressed with wife number two.

This may not be Sir Noel's strongest play, but his work has received plenty of exposure at the Shaw Festival going as far back as 1984's storied production of Private Lives with Fiona Reid and former Shaw Artistic Director, Christopher Newton.  That production still ranks as one of my favourite evenings at Shaw over the years.

The Festival knows how to serve up a Coward play and this time is no exception:  it's stylish, witty and is blessed with a very strong cast.  Even though the plot is rather thin when spread over three hours, it mattered little to the audience at the performance I attended.

Written during the Second World War when humour was hard to come by, "Blithe Spirit" premiered in London in 1941 and proved to be just the tonic a weary public needed, even though Coward took a rather lighthearted look at the subject of death.  He basically says "What if your spouse were to come back and continue to annoy you"?!  What indeed...

The story opens with newly-remarried Charles Condomine and second wife Ruth relaxing in their spacious and stylish country house.  We learn friends are coming over and with them, Charles has invited a local medium to join them over the course of the evening to conduct a seance.  Ruth is understandably uncomfortable with Charles suggestion the medium, Madame Arcati, try to reach out to his first wife, Elvira.

Its all a big joke and much frivolity ensues until the joke is on Charles and Elvira actually appears.  Not to anyone else in the room but to him.  And she sticks around, too.  Charles now has two wives to contend with and Elvira and Charles pick up where they left off with their witty bickering.  And Ruth?  She can't see Elvira but does her best to accommodate the unwelcome spirit into their home.

As mentioned the cast is uniformly strong here, with Damien Atkins' Charles a good foil for the returning spirit of Elvira, played by Julia Course.  Donna Soares' Ruth is nicely drawn, but one has to wonder what the attraction was for Charles after we are introduced to Elvira.  

The visiting guests that evening are Dr. Bradman and his wife, played by David Adams and Jenny L. Wright.  Though good, the two roles are only incidental to the overall story, really.  It's Deborah Hay as Madame Arcati who gets the most laughs with her exceptional portrayal of a more-than-eccentric English medium, offering up such clever lines as "Time is the reef upon which all our frail mystic ships are wrecked."

The set is done almost entirely in different shades of green and even Elvira is green from head to toe, even including her makeup.  Not sure why green was chosen but it is effective.  Many of the costumes are reflective of the well-to-do characters we meet, with both Charles and Dr. Bradmon looking exceptionally glitzy.  It's one of the few times I can remember the men's costumes being more dazzling than the women's.

Sets and costumes are by James Lavoie, incidentally, and the atmospheric lighting is by Kevin Lamotte.  The play is directed by Mike Payette.

Blithe Spirit is perhaps not the strongest show at Shaw this season but it is a very enjoyable ride, and rates a very good three out of four stars.  It plays at the Festival Theatre until October 8th.

For tickets and more information go to www.shawfest.com.

Have a great weekend!

August 24th, 2023.

Three Years...a recovery update

 It has been awhile since I updated you on my progress as I continue my recovery from the loss of Sophie in 2020, so three years in earlier this month, I felt it was time to get this done.

Overall, things have gone well and really for the most part, according to plan.  I was told early and often everyone is different and each person sets a different timetable that works for them. as I have done.  I knew recovery would not be quick, nor painless, and perhaps for me the journey has taken longer than expected.

It was certainly complicated by the pandemic as I was totally alone for the better part of two years save for an occasional visit when conditions allowed.  Even two Christmases were spent totally on my own, which was hard.

On the third anniversary of Sophie's passing earlier this month, I didn't quite know what to expect.  But what happened rather surprised me:  I was largely at peace with myself and where I was at this stage of the journey.  It was less emotional than previous years by a wide margin and I took that as a positive sign.  I felt finally my heart was coming to terms with the loss and I am indeed starting to move on.

But last week, I was surprised again.  On the anniversary of the visitation, which was exactly a week after she passed, I felt much more emotional and reflective and that quite frankly caught me off guard.  Was I relapsing?  I really don't think so; perhaps it was just my heart catching up to my head, in a way.  It was not too bad but the ache in my heart was still palpable.

I have since come to the conclusion that ache will likely always be there.  No matter what happens in my life in the coming months and years, as much as I focus on moving forward with my life, I will continue to honour and reflect on the past.  I am not sure if that is always the case, but I sense due to the quickness of Sophie's illness and how relatively young she was at the time, it may never be fully resolved in my heart.

That's perhaps not a bad thing either.  I have always believed you learn from your mistakes and when the opportunity comes up to try again, you are older, wiser, richer in compassion and understanding, and willing to try even harder to achieve what I have come to refer to as my "happily ever after."  The ache that remains in my heart to this very day serves as a reminder how richly blessed I was for almost 20 years with Sophie and how wonderful life can be again should love find me once more.

And to be honest, I want that.  I will honour the past but I refuse to live in it.  What we had was beautiful; there is no reason in the world the next time cannot be just as beautiful if not more so.  All that stands in the way is a reluctance to move forward with your life and grab the opportunity when it knocks on your door.  Or perhaps when you do the knocking...

Having said that, I will be careful.  The past year or so I have dipped my toes into the tepid waters of the senior dating world, and I wish I could say the results were promising but unfortunately, they were not.  Oh, there was a tremendous amount of happiness shared in both cases initially, but I guess I had not taken into account the fact not everyone is as ready to also move on from the past and look to the future as perhaps I have been.

Let's be clear though.  I have nothing but good memories about both special experiences I had and will always feel that way.  I have tremendous respect for both individuals for taking a chance on love with me as I know full well how difficult that level of trust can be to achieve.  Both experiences were also valuable learning tools for me going forward and perhaps, it will be third time lucky for me.  We'll see.

But if, and this is indeed a possibility I am prepared for, I end up living the remainder of my life alone, I am fine with that too.  I met Sophie when I was 44 so I had plenty of experience with living on my own and I am quite prepared to do that again.  Will I worry about it?  No, not at all.  Whatever will be will be, and I will make the best of my life no matter what unfolds in the future, or with whom.

The important thing now is to focus on living my best life, which I am concentrating on doing this summer and I know that is what Sophie would want for me.  I am blessed with good health, financial independence and a love of life, so the future is bright no matter how things play out.  A friend once said my Dad raised retirement to a fine art, and I intend to do the same!

I have taken baby steps in getting back out into the stream of things, as well as some larger ones, such as a return trip to Ottawa for my birthday back in June.  I have another even bigger adventure coming up later this year and I will write about that when I return, you can be sure.

Right now I am concentrating on day trips and making new memories in some familiar places I want to return to, and that will continue off and on as time permits.  There are so many great memories I will never forget and mixing those with the new seems to be a remedy I need right now to help me move forward in a positive spirit.

Before I go, I would be remiss if I did not offer sincere and heartfelt thanks to all the friends, colleagues and acquaintances who have reached out these past three years to check up on and help support me.  Your help is invaluable and I hope you all know that.  No man is an island and that has been proven to me time and time again over the years.

A special mention of gratitude must go out to those I refer to as "Sophie's Angels"...her close circle of friends who all helped with her final weeks and afterwards, have all been there for me as well.  So in no particular order, I offer thanks to Kathy Brophy, Norma Chan, Denise & George Papaiz, Mary Kudreikis, Sheila Krekorian & Joe Skura, and Lisa Raham.  If I have forgotten anyone please forgive me, but your considerable efforts towards both of us cannot be overstated or appreciated enough.  Thank you all.

So, onwards and upwards I say.  Fasten your seatbelts...the best is yet to come.  I am ready for my next great adventure!

Have a great week!

August 16th, 2023.