Blithe and Spirited

The run is as short as Labour’s honeymoon period so head over to Ealing’s The Questors Theatre to catch their production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit as soon as you can.

In one sense the play is a ghost story, but one which is played for laughs rather than shocks. It’s also a portrait of a marriage, or marriages. We soon learn that having three people in a marriage doesn’t add up. The wardrobe department should be congratulated and the clean lines of the set match the clipped dialogue of one of Coward’s most successful plays. The cast clearly have fun (including a pretty and petulant Elvira, played by Claire Durrant – and Annabelle Williams as Madame Acati, channelling Margaret Rutherford). Robert Seatter and Kate Langston, playing and Charles and Ruth Condomine respectively, create an immediate sense of affection and chemistry – although the idea of a happy marriage proves duly oxymoronic as the play moves into its second and third acts.

The pithy, sometimes waspish, dialogue is batted back and forth like a tennis rally – with no one necessarily winning the point. One can try and read different and profound meanings into the play, but don’t forget to laugh and enjoy the show whilst doing so.

The unassumingly charming production seemed to be a hit with young and old in the audience. As the nights get gloomier, and as our taxes get higher, we could all do with some more Noel Coward in our lives.

Blithe Spirit is on at the The Questors Theatre, Ealing. Richard Foreman is a bestselling author.