Early in 1941, Noel Coward dashed off Blithe Spirit in less than a week. In stark contrast to his patriotic war drama In Which We Serve, it is a fantasy that refuses to take death seriously. It was therefore condemned by some critics for being in bad taste, but audiences loved it, and it ran in the West End for very nearly two thousand performances. Nearly eighty years later we find ourselves facing another existential crisis involving our continental neighbours. Is this revival of Blithe Spirit sufficiently engaging to make us to forget the B-word for a couple of hours? It most certainly is. From the moment the curtain rises on Anthony Ward’s magnificent set, there is a sense that we are in good hands.
The location is writer Charles Condomine’s living room, an opulent space dominated by towering bookshelves. Charles is married to Ruth, who is all too aware that Charles treasures fond memories of his first wife, Elvira. Charles and Ruth have been together for five years, but they do not present a picture of cosy domesticity. It’s a brittle relationship, buoyed along by a shared penchant for dry witticisms – ‘Anything interesting in the Times?’ ‘Don’t be silly, Charles.’ Geoffrey Streatfeild plays Charles as a man who certainly has enjoyed the company of women, quite a number of them, but who has reserved his greatest affection for himself. Lisa Dillon gives Ruth a similar sense of emotional detachment. Her verbal sparring with Charles shows her to be his match for quick-fire intelligence, and she matches him in her lack of warmth, too. The casual heartlessness at the core of this marriage is essential for the comedy to work. This is a story about marital conflict and death; for it to be funny, we cannot become too fond of the protagonists. As Coward said, ‘If there was a heart, it would be a sad story.’
Charles and Ruth invite two acquaintances, Dr and Mrs Bradman (Simon Coates and Lucy Robinson) to a séance with spiritualist medium Madame Arcati. All four of them are looking forward to an evening of entertainment; nobody is really anticipating any contact with the afterlife, and Dr Bradman in particular is scathing about mediums and their mumbo-jumbo. They make a smug, self-satisfied quartet, and Blithe Spirit would be a cold concoction indeed if Madame Arcati proved to be cynical too. Is she a charlatan, out to exploit gullibility? Not a bit of it. Jennifer Saunders portrays Madame Arcati as a well-intentioned woman who is utterly convinced of her psychic powers. She arrives puffing and blowing, and rather sweaty, for she is a keen cyclist. Her shapeless clothes and robust physicality sharply contrast with the languid elegance of her clients. Her name might hint at foreign exoticism, but this Madame Arcati is quintessentially English. Her voice and mannerisms bring to mind a certain kind of schoolmistress, the kind you might once have seen urging a hockey team to play up and play the game. Madame Arcati conjures up the ghost of Charles’ first wife, Elvira (Emma Naomi), but another spirit is brought to life in Saunders’ performance, which has more than a touch of Margaret Rutherford’s delightful eccentricity about it. She has the same mannish gestures and breezy enthusiasm that Rutherford brought to this role. It is an homage, rather than an impersonation, for Saunders makes the part very much her own.
Emma Naomi is a convincingly waspish and seductive Elvira, and some of the play’s funniest scenes are those where only the hapless Charles can see her ghostly image, and the discomfited Ruth finds herself talking to an empty space. Many will come to the Theatre Royal to see Jennifer Saunders, and they will not be disappointed, for she is a magnificent Madame Arcati, but this production features strong performances throughout. I particularly liked Rose Wardlaw’s portrayal of Charles’ weirdly high-speed maid, Edith. Under Richard Eyre’s assured direction, this Blithe Spirit is frequently visually impressive, and there are some very effective illusions. Elvira’s return from the afterlife precipitates a series of disasters for Charles, and the play ends in a satisfyingly spectacular fashion as his world comes crashing down around him. Blithe Spirit may just be escapist fun, but it offers fun of the highest quality. ★★★★★ Mike Whitton 19th June 2019
Photo by Nobby Clark
