Stage Review - Blithe Spirit (Seattle Rep)

Stage Review - Blithe Spirit
Presented By: Seattle Rep - Seattle, WA
Show Run: November 29 - December 22, 2024
Date Reviewed: Wednesday, December 04, 2024 (Opening Night)
Run Time: 2 Hours, 10 Minutes (including a 15-minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

I think I probably echo the sentiments of any lover of live theatre, or film for that matter, when I say I could sit and watch any good actor display his or her craft for hours and just bask in the enjoyment of it. Moreover, put six or seven of them together on the same stage to tackle a classic piece of work as only those with that level of talent can, and it’s just captivating. So it is with the Seattle Rep production of Blithe Spirit, the Noël Coward classic and comic tale of a man haunted by the spirit of his ex-wife, resulting from a séance gone awry. The Allison Narver directed piece runs on stage through December 22 in the Rep’s Bagley Wright Theater and is the perfect example of an ensemble cast that comes to play with a superior level of talent and delivers a show with pace, energy, and precision, the result being a piece of live theatre that doesn’t just jump off the stage, but soars.

A quick summary of the plot finds Charles Condomine, in search of material for his new book on the occult, hosting a gathering at the house he shares with wife Ruth and maid Edith, having invited friends the Bradmans, Dr. and Mrs., and Madame Arcati the medium, who is to lead the séance Charles hopes to use to help learn about terminology, mannerisms, and other “tools of the trade”. The event seems to go without incident, even after Madame Arcati falls into one her famous trances, that is until after all of the guests disperse when Charles begins to hear the voice of his ex-wife Elvira. And if that isn’t enough, the next thing Charles knows, Elvira, in ghost form, struts right on in through the house’s French doors. What follows is a reunion of sorts between the two ex-spouses, though Charles is the only one that can see or hear Elvira, and a series of attempts by Elvira to stir the pot and disrupt the status quo, meaning the relationship between Charles and Ruth. The premise is nothing altogether complicated, so the strength of the story lies not just in how it is written, but how it is told. It can be generally funny, but long and tedious at the same time, or it can be hilarious when performed with quickly paced dialogue, physical accentuations of movement, and precise comedic timing. The Rep version of Blithe Spirit is most certainly the latter.

First off, Arlando Smith and Gin Hammond are just perfect as Charles Condomine and wife Ruth. The two exude the entitlement of their social standing, they like their martinis dry, and ultimately they don’t take anything all too seriously, especially the idea of what they’ve called Madame Arcati to the house for. But for Arlando’s Charles, it’s all fun and games until he starts hearing the voice of his first wife, and later when she appears out of the mist. Arlando navigates his character from his aloofness, through to fear, and eventually to a state of acceptance, and does so masterfully. Meanwhile, Gin’s Ruth seemingly has no animosity toward Elvira as the couple discuss her before the arrival of their guests, but it’s clear from the edge in her voice that her attitude may bely how she really feels, and when Charles’ first wife arrives on the scene, Ruth puts all pretense to the side and lets Charles and Elvira know how she really feels, though Elvira’s pot stirring when she arrives doesn’t help matters. Managing these characters is only part of this, though, it’s their delivery that makes their portrayals so very fun. Their delivery is masterful, it’s quick and witty, and their dialogue is wonderfully reactive, plus they use the entirety of their bodies to talk, adding this skilled use of body language to add humor to already funny conversations. I have to think, watching Arlando and Gin deliver these roles is exactly how Coward wanted it to be performed. The manner in which these two act in Blithe Spirit takes the author’s words from the page and makes them orders of magnitude funnier.

The excellent casting of Blithe Spirit continues with friends and séance attendees Dr. and Mrs. Bradman. The Dr. is played hilariously by Nate Tenenbaum and his wife by Sara Waisanen. Sara’s Mrs. Bradman is funny in her naïveté, while Nate’s Dr. Bradman, who skews a bit incompetent in his medical skills, joins his wife in her lack of seriousness about the matter at hand. Some of the funniest scenes in the play occur when this group of four, Charles, Ruth, and the Bradmans, react behind Madame Arcati’s back as she goes through her “process”. And watching Nate in this role reminds me why he has become one of the great character actors in Seattle theatre. He brings so much of his personality into the roles that he plays and he does the same thing here with his Dr. Bradman. Just watching him can be funny. And speaking of funny, yes, this whole cast brings the humor to the entire show, but it’s Anne Allgood as Madame Arcati who drives the lion’s share of the laugh out loud moments of the show. Anne is all in on the eccentricity of her character and just when the audience thinks that she’s gone as far as she can, she steps it up to another level, and what a treat it is to see her display this level of comic mastery. Between Anne’s hysterical performance as the eccentric Madame Arcati, Gin and Arlando’s chemistry and quickly paced and precisely executed delivery of dialogue, and the Bradmans’ support provided by Nate and Sara, this main ensemble delivers this farce so wonderfully.

Once Elvira arrives, much of the humor comes from her inserting herself between Charles and Ruth, and as Charles’ first wife, Kirsten Potter is again, just so good. She’s flirty and a bit seductive, mischievous, and always seems to have something up her sleeve. She enjoys the conflict between Charles and Ruth immensely, and Kirsten absolutely sells the character. There’s a fine line with a villain in a comedy, to make the character evil enough, but not too evil so that it’s still funny, and Kirsten skirts that line expertly, she’s most definitely evil, but never enough that she can’t generate a laugh from her words or actions. Another aspect that this cast just gets right is their accents, and credit here to Judith Shahn, dialect coach for the production. Each character has a slightly different accent that they each manage consistently, that informs the personality of their characters, and adds to the humor of the show. But perhaps there’s no accent that’s as unique and funny as the one Sophie Kelly-Hedrick uses as maid Edith, just like there’s no characterization as unique as hers. Sophie’s performance, for my money, is the biggest surprise of Blithe Spirit, the maid who likes to do everything at a million miles an hour, and struggles to slow down, even when Charles and Ruth ask her to. I honestly can’t describe the accent she uses, other than it’s just so funny to hear her speak, and when she sets the table for tea, or clears the table, she does each with her own hilarious under her breath commentary. And then she’ll talk, and all of a sudden just utter something loud, not quite a scream, but something in the ballpark. From other versions of Blithe Spirit I’ve seen, I expected at least a piece of what I got out of the other characters, of course this group is a lot better than I’ve seen before, but I was blindsided by Sophie’s performance, and nothing makes me happier.

There’s not a lot of room for variation on the creative side when it comes to Blithe Sprit. Each production is going to have a living room and a set of doors to the outside, those are the minimum requirements. But it’s what a creative team does to put their stamp on the design on top of the minimum requirements that speaks to a show’s production quality. Here, scenic designer Carey Wong, lighting designer Connie Yun, and sound designer Cricket S. Myers have combined to bring Allison’s vision to life, providing a set that is beautifully appointed and speaks to the social standing of the Condomines, with coordinated and period accurate furniture, a large portrait of Ruth (with a magical secret), and a plethora of books and other props that make the room look lived in, but still a bit sterile and aloof. Toward the rear of the stage, is the dining room, behind a set of large sliding doors, with grand dining table, and all of the accoutrements. This is something that isn’t necessary, but shows the extra level of detail that Carey is known for in his designs. Many productions will imply the dining room, but not here, and these are the kinds of things that I like to see out of a scenic designer, that extra something that adds to the production value of a show. Stage left is where the required French doors are located, where the mist and whatever comes in on the mist enter. It’s a set of the quality we’ve come to expect from Carey, and he’s taken it a step further and made it ghost friendly, in an extremely creative way. If you’ve seen Blithe Spirit before, you know what I might be talking about, if you haven’t, you’re in for a nice surprise. On the lighting side, what Connie has done here is just another component in an otherwise high quality production. Case in point, when Madame Arcati turns the lights off in her séance, the stage is illuminated by the din of the fireplace, a slight orange glow covering everything. When Elvira enters, the lighting changes from her standard soft lighting to something more ethereal, a cool white that matches the color of Kirsten’s costume and hair. The lighting from the chandeliers and wall sconces is also quite nice, as those contribute to the soft lighting I mentioned, in cooperation with the set and its feeling of realism. On the sound side, the obvious thing would be to call out the ghost voices, of course, and those are done well, but there are little things that Cricket gets right as well, to do with the victrola, door bell, and so on. There are no missed steps on the creative side, and this incudes Cathy Hunt’s costuming as well. From the well fitting and stylish dinner suits that Charles and Dr. Bradman wear to the séance, to Ruth’s varied and stylish dresses and evening wear, Edith’s maid uniform, and Madame Arcati’s eccentric outfits to match her personality, every piece of the wardrobe is very well designed, and each fits nicely in congruence with the color palette of the set. There are no misses here, either from the cast or the creative team.

You probably never thought of associating Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit with the holiday season, but sometimes you don’t need a play that screams “Christmas” to be a wintertime hit, maybe you just need something that can be an escape from the stress of the world we live in, so that for a few hours, we can be immersed in a world of laughter, joy, and fun. That’s exactly what Blithe Spirit is, and with a play like this one, the better the cast, the better, and funnier, the story. When a cast is in sync, the result is a total performance, but add to that a creative team that is also working together on all cylinders, and you’ve got magic, and that’s what this production of Blithe Spirit is. And maybe that’s it, if this is the time of year for magic, the Seattle Rep production of Blithe Spirit is the perfect gift for all of us.

Blithe Spirit runs on stage at Seattle Rep’s Bagley Wright Theater through December 22. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.seattlerep.org/.

Photo credit: Nate Watters