BLITHE SPIRIT. To 1 November.
Keswick
BLITHE SPIRIT
by Noel Coward
Theatre By The Lake In rep to 1 November 2003
Mon-Sat 8pm Mat Wed & 1 November 2pm
Audio-described 17 October
BSL Signed 20 September
Post-show discussion 14 August
Runs 2hr 30min One interval
TICKETS: 017687 74411
Review: Timothy Ramsden 30 July
A revival that works best when it doesn't try to impose comment on this well-sweetened comic confection.Noel Coward, actor and director as well as playwright, knew what he wanted and made sure it was in his script. It needs unobtrusive (though not anodyne) direction. If only Stefan Escreet could have restrained himself at times.
Opening war-news from the wireless reflects the play's date (1941), not its world. If this is wartime, why do the Condomines leave the window open with lights blazing? Why does Madame Arcati mention a light for her bike, with no-one uttering blackout'? Where's the sense of rationing? Why does Charles talk freely of travelling overseas? Why does nobody mention that, yoo-hoo, there's a war on?
The opening sequence continues with a low-flying plane. One of ours, presumably, as
nobody seems the least disconcerted despite the setting in vulnerable South East England. As it roars past, a wing-shape shadow passes over the stage; presumably the Condomine house hasn't been bombed (somebody would surely mention that at some point). Maybe it has a glass roof, or is being re-thatched.
This tendency to over-egg the pudding (powdered egg, presumably, in times of war) continues. David Alcock gives a grotesque performance, stretching vocal tones ludicrously, accompanied by facial mugging to make ever more unnecessarily clear the already-obvious point he's a sceptic over Arcati's spiritualism. I held a minor personal séance to summon up the ghosts of Alcock's work at Southampton's Nuffield as reminder of how good an actor he actually is.
So, maybe, is Alison Darling, but her overdone Edith is a vocal and physical miasma robbing the girl of any dignity. The inexperienced Maid turns out to have an important place in the plot and needs rescuing from the burial mound of Coward's snobbish dismissal, not burying deeper under comic overload.
If this is a (powdered) curate's egg of a production, there are good parts. Fortunately, when Roger Delves-Broughton doesn't over-illustrate a line, or Kate Layden feel the need to enlist Madame Arcati in the Ministry of Silly Walks, they bring comedy through taking their characters seriously, while Jessica Lloyd's non-nonsense Ruth and Corinna Powlesland's mischievous Elvira contrast well in manner and costume.
Dr Bradman: David Alcock
Mrs Bradman: Amanda Bellamy
Edith: Alison Darling
Charles: Roger Delves-Broughton
Madame Arcati: Kate Layden
Ruth: Jessica Lloyd
Elvira: Corinna Powlesland
Director: Stefan Escreet
Designer: Martin Johns
Lighting: Nick Beadle
Sound: Paul Bunn
2003-07-31 16:04:15