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Blithe Spirit

1964
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About Blithe Spirit

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Blithe Spirit is a comic play by Noël Coward, described by the author as "an improbable farce in three acts". The play concerns the socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant Madame Arcati to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to gather material for his next book. The scheme backfires when he is haunted by the ghost of his wilful and temperamental 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 was first seen in the West End in 1941 and ran for 1,997 performances, a new record for a non-musical play in London. It also did well on Broadway later that year, running for 657 performances. The play was adapted for the cinema in 1945; a second film version followed in 2020. Coward directed a musical adaptation, High Spirits, seen on Broadway and in the West End in 1964. Radio and television presentations of the play have been broadcast in Britain and the US from 1944 onwards. It continues to be revived in the West End, on Broadway and elsewhere.

Apr 3 - 16, 1964

  • The Little Theatre

  • Genre: Comedy

  • Playwright: Noël Coward

  • Director: Bill Reynolds


Other stagings at BNT

Cast

Kira Mather

Elvira

Gaye Lohse

Edith

Kaye Buchanan

Ruth

Fred Fargher

Charles

Don Fraser

Doctor Bradman

Dorothy Higgins

Mrs. Bradman

Maureen Christie

Madam Arcati

Crew

  • Director
    Bill Reynolds
  • Stage Manager
    Joan Ryan
  • Sound
    Albert Dulfer
  • Lighting
    Geoff Simmonds
  • Set Design
    Colin Stevens
  • Marketing
    Ros. White
  • Photography
    Basil Dawson
  • Set Construction
    Joe Cook
  • Hair
    Geoff Rutley
  • Backstage Crew
    John Chapman, Cheryl Blackburn, Heather Crompton, Peter Blythe, Fiona Davidson, Muriel Mitchell, Marj Ford, Ian Mcleod

Program

    References