Reviewed by James Karas
If Tommy
made your stomach vibrate, Blithe Spirit will soothe your soul
and make you laugh at a delightful comedy from another era and, yes, another
world. Noel Coward’s comedy should delight people during the summer and well into
the fall at the Avon Theatre.
Much of the credit goes to its director Brian
Bedford. He has a fine ear and feel for comedies of wit which require
impeccable delivery, perfect timing and that indefinable quality called style.
The play exists in its own world, however, distant it may be from us and the
director, and actors must create an atmosphere
that is both convincing and utterly entertaining.
Coward wrote Blithe Spirit during World War II when the Luftwaffe was bombing London
and the Allies were being hammered by the Axis powers. Blithe Spirit could not
be farther from the war and it is a perfect escapist comedy.
Novelist Charles (Ben Carlson) has invited
Madame Arcati (Seana McKenna), an eccentric medium, for a séance to communicate
with the other world. He just wants to get some background information for his
next novel. The result is that his dead first wife Elvira (Michelle Giroux) appears,
ethereal and beautiful, and can only be seen by him. You can imagine how his
second wife Ruth (Sara Topham) will react to the new guest.
Among a number of superb performances, I give
the laurel wreath to Topham. She jumps from the teenage Juliet to the
middle-aged Ruth and does the role with style, perfect articulation and comic
intelligence. She is simply a pleasure to watch.
Carlson plays the overwrought husband who
finds himself with two wives in the house. Each wife wants to get rid of the
other but Ruth cannot see or hear Elvira. Impeccable delivery by Carlson.
Giroux’s Elvira, in see-through attire, is
sultry and sexy the way Ruth is reserved and proper. She floats around the set
as becomes a spirit and is quite amusing.
Seana McKenna seems to be having the time of
her life as the other-worldly Madame Arcati. The medium goes into a trance,
collapses on the floor, flails her arms and is given numerous opportunities for
comic over-acting. McKenna takes advantage of every such opportunity and milks
every possible laugh out of the meaty role.
Coward liked putting eccentric servants in
some of his plays and Edith (Susie Burnett), the house maid is no exception.
She is from the navy and has the habit of sprinting from one place to the next.
Burnett gets the laughs intended for her role.
James Blendick and Wendy Thatcher are the
necessary plot movers as Dr. and Mrs. Bradman. They are the dinner guests for
the séance and they do their job.
The set by designer Simon Higlett represents
the type of brightly lit, well-furnished drawing room that you wish you lived
in. Men wear tuxedos and women long gowns for dinner and fine suits as casual
wear as envisioned by Costume Designer Katherine Lubienski. The whole thing
defines a splendid way of life in rural England that is even more attractive
for being imaginary.
One more compliment to Bedford. He pays
attention to every detail of the dialogue and the actors’ movements. He does
not miss an intonation or a pause that will produce a laugh where none would be
apparent in the script. For example, in one scene, Charles is trying to humour
Ruth after the previous night’s row. She is unresponsive and at one point he
comments that “you are very glacial this morning.” Bedford inserts a very slight
pause before the word glacial and the line becomes funny.
A thoroughly enjoyable production.
______
Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward opened on June 1 and will
in repertory until October 20, 2013 at the Avon Theatre, Stratford, Ontario. www.stratfordfestival.ca
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