Blithe Spirit

Postcard review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – Blythe Spirit

Playwright – Noël Coward

Production Company/Theatre space – Theatre Calgary, Arts Commons.

Length – 2 ACTS (2 hours 45 minutes one intermission)

Genre/s – Fantasy Comedy

Premise – A happily married writer accidently conjures the ghost of his first wife and, as he is the only person who can see her, comedy ensues as others think he is going mad.

Why this play? Why now? – Theatre Calgary is famous for giving us the four ghosts from Dickens year after year. Here the ghosts are part of a hilarious haunting. The play hasn’t been done professionally in Calgary for a few decades and if ever there was a time to resurrect some comedy this is it.

Curiosities – Am I the only person who think fake cigarettes steal focus? When can we see another Private Lives?

Notable Moment – The antics of Koslo brought back a little of the ghost of the late Joyce Doolittle.

Notable writing – As other plays in his repertoire confirm, Coward is a genius at combining marital strife with rapier wit. Granted the three-act structure has gone the way of the Makira Woodhen and by today’s standards could use a judicial edit.

Notable performances – Smart directors know that 50% of a play’s success is casting - so full marks. Corrine Koslo as the energetic zany medium conjures up laugh after laugh. Tyrell Crews brilliantly banters barbs with his first and second wives, played by Louise Duff and Emily Howard. House guests and séance participants Christopher Hunt and Meg Farhall also manifest some great laughs. Maid Ali Deregt serves up some laughs behind and in front of the curtain.

Notable design/Production – Theatre Calgary’s resources stretch to some grand set designs and special effects. These have materialized courtesy of Set Designer Scott Reid, Costume Designer Ralamy Kneeshaw, and Lighting Designer Narda McCarroll.

Notable direction – Time zooms by quickly under Nikki Loach’s direction. The combined talent is sensational. Loach has people and objects zipping and floating all over the stage. It is charming and fun without being manic or melodramatic. This style of comedy will defiantly lift your spirits.

One reason to see this show –Noël Coward is famous for saying, “I love criticism just so long as it's unqualified praise.” You got it Mr. Coward.