'Spirit' in the night: A ghost story with a twist

By Tim Adam Donnelly • Special to The Guide

Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” was designed to serve as an escape from wartime London in the midst of the tragedy of World War II.

The story — a comic farce with plenty of Coward’s trademark twists — was written in 1941 in the midst of the siege on Britain, but it’s set in the decade before the war. It begins with novelist Charles Condomine (Michael Weaver) inviting the spirit medium Madame Arcati (Sheila Kadra) over for a dinner party to help research his new mystery novel. While there, the medium conducts a séance and inadvertently summons the ghost of Charles’ first wife, Elvira (Christine Grefe), whose embarks on mission of trying to disrupt Charles’ marriage to his second wife, Ruth (Maya White).

‘Blithe Spirit’

When: 8 p.m. today, Saturday, Nov. 13-14, 20-21; 3 p.m. matinees Sunday, Nov. 15 and 22.

Where: May River Theater, Ulmer Auditorium, Bluffton Town Hall, corner of Bridge and Pritchard streets, Bluffton

Tickets: $20. Reserved seating can be purchased through Nov. 20 by calling 843-815-5581.

Information: 843-837-7798. www.mayrivertheatre.com



The story reminds audiences of the folly of trying to contact the ghosts of the past, according to its director. “People convinced (Coward) that audiences needed something that was light, breezy,” said Jim Kadra, who directs the play, which opens today at the May River Theater. “He felt it inappropriate to set a comedy in a period of war. To have a light airy comedy going on with the city in almost ruins would have been a little out of place.”

The comic foibles continue as Charles and the medium (who was portrayed by Angela Lansbury in a New York revival last spring) try to exorcise the spirit of Elvira from the house, and get even more out of hand when Elvira causes Ruth to get into an accident, killing her and adding her to the roster of ghosts haunting poor Charles.

Kadra said he chose the play because it was an example of Coward’s deft writing skills. “It is very humorous, (and) actually funny when done properly. It’s a real fine piece of playwriting,” Kadra said.

Kadra had less difficulty casting this play then he did with his previous works with the theater, a surprise considering the challenges of the wry British humor of the script. The play involves a seven-member ensemble cast that’s necessary to the balance of the production in the English country house stage, something that forced Kadra to work like an orchestra conductor.

“The conductor wants to get that overall sound and not have something stand out that shouldn’t be,” he said.
Kadra has directed more than 30 full-length plays and one-acts over the years in the Boston area and elsewhere. But he says the May River Theater is one of the finest he’s worked in.

“The productions there are outstanding for a community theater,” he said. “It’s a great asset to the town of Bluffton to have that kind of high-quality cultural institution.”

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