Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit was written in under a week by Noël Coward in under a week. It is said to be his contribution to the struggle and coping which England needed during the Second World War as more and more British towns were being bombed and more and more were dying. The play takes on death not as a tragic event but rather as a liberating opportunity. The main character Charles Condomine is a middle-aged writer who's life is more or less ruled by his wives in the most subtle, yet important ways. It is the author's own meddling in the occult which leads him to conjure up his deceased ex and spiral his entire household out of control. As a script, I was first slightly put off by the difficulty of the special effects almost as much as I was enthralled by the top-knotch language in the dialogue. Luckily, our production of the play, I believe, married the two the way it was intended to be played and put on a clinic for the performance of a Noël Coward piece. The farcical elements as well as the characters' personalities make for an absolutely delightful time in the theater which even the general masses would respect and enjoy.