Fort Collins theatre elevates Noël Coward’s familiar favorite to open its 30th season
It’s easy to understand why Noël Coward’s 1941 play Blithe Spirit has long been a staple for theatres across the country. The whole play is set in a single location, it features a small cast, and it’s got ghosts — what’s not to love? Bas Bleu’s production of Blithe Spirit spookily starts the theatre’s 30th season in Fort Collins, and, if you’re interested in attending, you’d better get tickets now! The performance I attended was packed, and before the play started, the house manager announced that tickets for their final weekend of performances were selling fast.
Blithe Spirit follows Charles Condomine (Jeffrey Bigger), a wealthy British novelist who invites Madame Arcati (Lou Anne Wright) to his house to conduct a séance as a part of his research for a book he’s writing about a homicidal psychic. Charles and his wife, Ruth (Blair Carpenter), don’t believe in the supernatural and have invited friends over to make fun of Madame Arcati’s act. However, their plan backfires when she accidentally brings back to life the ghost of Charles’ first wife, Elvira (Julia Jones), who has been dead for seven years. After Madame Arcati leaves, chaos ensues because only Charles can see the ghost of Elvira, and she is pissed. Elvira is furious to learn that Charles has remarried and does everything within her power to break up the couple. Ghost hijinks ensue as Charles slowly realizes he’ll always be haunted by his past.
Though I knew of Blithe Spirit, this was my first-time seeing Coward’s classic performed live. No amount of pre-show research could have prepared me for how British the play is in performance; it is extremely talky, features horrible people being nasty to each other, and both skewers and revels in high society. This also naturally means that all the actors don British accents for the duration of the piece; accents are tricky, but they were quite easy to understand and — according to the audience member next to me who was born in England — quite accurate.
The play takes a few minutes to find its legs, but it’s well worth the wait. The show opens with a repetitive, exposition-heavy argument between Charles and Ruth about his previous wife. Despite being necessary for the plot, it gave the production a low-energy start; but the introduction of Madame Arcati and the subsequent séance scene soon infused the performance with much-needed energy.
Wright’s portrayal of Madame Arcati is a real high point of the production; she effortlessly commands the stage and delivers zingers that would make Carol Burnett proud. She grounds the medium’s kookiest moments in such sincerity that you just can’t help but fall for her act. Leah Rohlfs deserves props for her superb performance as Edith, the maid, and her hilarious walk, which remained funny through the curtain call.
Aside from a tech-heavy finale, director Eric Prince opts for a traditional production with barebones staging. This allows the cast’s performances to remain the focus and, while this approach mostly succeeds thanks to a talented cast, there are moments throughout (particularly during the three séance scenes) that could have benefited from more attention to the lighting and sound design. Prince also occasionally directs actors to sit with their backs to the audience for long periods while speaking, which, in a small venue like this, didn’t affect the audibility of the actors much but did prevent the audience from seeing the facial expressions of certain characters. The stagnant blocking is not helped by lengthy transitions between scenes set to jazz music that slow down the production and frequently interrupt the performers right when they start to gain real momentum.
The costumes, designed by Cathy Haldeman, are gorgeously aristocratic and help communicate the passage of time through several tasteful costume changes. Jeff Tish created a lavish set that looks like it should be featured as a room in a haunted house. He and lighting designer Brian Miller skillfully used backlighting on the stage-right window, which, coupled with long, white flowing drapes, creates an incredibly creepy effect that is used for the play’s spookiest entrances.
Once Elvira’s ghost arrives, things really start to get good thanks to the fantastic chemistry between Biggers, Carpenter and Jones. The first encounter scene, in which Charles is trying to keep the peace between his ghost ex-wife, Elvira, who is messing with Ruth — who can’t see her and refuses to believe there’s a ghost — was incredibly well executed and full of dramatic irony. Jones makes death look good with her ghostly physicality and how easily she controls Charles with the bat of her eye. Carpenter delivered a formidable performance as Ruth, Charles’ jealous housewife; she clearly ran the house, and her anxious energy commanded the stage.
Biggers plays Charles as a pompous but ultimately weak man-child. His character is placed in many difficult situations, and Biggers has a different, amusingly perplexed facial expression for each one. Biggers delivers my favorite joke of the show, involving a potential threesome between himself, his ghost ex-wife, and his current wife. You’ll have to see it to believe how that joke comes up!
Despite pacing issues throughout, the play is sure to lift your spirits thanks to strong comedic performances from a gifted cast.
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