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.
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