Blithe Spirit
Encyclopedia
Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward
which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley
's poem "To a Skylark
" ("Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! / Bird thou never wert"). The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium
and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance
, hoping to gather material for his next book. The scheme backfires when he is haunted by the ghost of his annoying and temperamental first wife, Elvira, following the séance. Elvira makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles's marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost.
The play was first seen in the West End
of London in 1941, creating a new long-run record for non-musical British plays of 1,997 performances. It also did well on Broadway
later that year, running for 657 performances. Coward adapted the play for film in 1945, starring Rex Harrison
, and directed a musical
adaptation, High Spirits
, on Broadway in 1964. It was also adapted for television in the 1950s and 1960s and for radio. The play enjoyed several West End and Broadway revivals in the 1970s and 1980s and was revived again in London in 2004. It returned to Broadway
in February 2009.
's poem "To a Skylark
". After his London office and apartment had been destroyed in The Blitz
, Coward wrote Blithe Spirit in 1941 during a holiday that he took with actress Joyce Carey
to Portmeirion
on the coast of Snowdonia
in Wales
. He wrote it straight through from beginning to end while staying at the Fountain 2 (Upper Fountain) suite at Portmeirion and only two lines of dialogue were removed before its first production in London. In his autobiography Coward claimed he wrote the play in five days.
During World War II
, before Russia
and the U.S. joined forces with the Allies, Great Britain was suffering severe casualties and facing German bombing attacks at home. Coward felt that British audiences would want to view an escapist comedy such as Blithe Spirit. The play provoked a small outcry at the time of its first performances, as it was seen to be possibly making fun of death at the height of the war; however, such objections were quickly forgotten, and the play went on to set British box-office records. The subject was timely for many, because people who wished to contact their loved ones who had died in the war were turning to spiritualism. The play's run of 1,997 consecutive performances set a record for non-musical plays in the West End
that was not surpassed until Boeing Boeing
in the 1960s.
Coward repeats one of his signature theatrical devices at the end of the play, where the central character tiptoes out as the curtain falls – a device that he also used in Present Laughter
, Private Lives
and Hay Fever
.
in June 1941, and then premiered in the West End
at the Piccadilly Theatre
on July 21, 1941, and transferred to the St. James's Theatre and then the Duchess Theatre
for a total of 1,997 performances. It was directed by Coward, and the principal cast members were Kay Hammond as Elvira, Margaret Rutherford
as Madame Arcati, Cecil Parker
as Charles and Fay Compton
as Ruth. During the run, Beryl Measor took over as Madame Arcati and Irene Browne
took over the role of Ruth. Sets and costumes were designed by Gladys Calthrop
.
The Broadway
premiere took place on November 5, 1941 at the Morosco Theatre
in a production staged by John C. Wilson and designed by Stewart Chaney. In the cast were Leonora Corbett as Elvira, Mildred Natwick
as Madame Arcati, Clifton Webb
as Charles and Peggy Wood
as Ruth. The play transferred to the Booth Theatre
on May 18, 1942 and it ran for a total of 657 performances. Coward starred as Charles in a wartime UK touring company, beginning in September 1942, with Joyce Carey
as Ruth, Judy Campbell
as Elvira and Molly Johnson as Madame Arcati. Dennis Price
covered for Coward when the latter was taken ill.
In July 1970, the play was revived in the West End at the Globe Theatre
, starring Amanda Reiss as Elvira, Beryl Reid
as Madame Arcati, Patrick Cargill
as Charles and Phyllis Calvert
as Ruth and ran until January 1971. It was then revived by the National Theatre
in 1976, in a production directed by Harold Pinter
, starring Maria Aitken
as Elvira, Elizabeth Spriggs
as Madame Arcati, Rowena Cooper as Ruth and Richard Johnson
as Charles. Another London revival played in 1986 at the Vaudeville Theatre
, starring Joanna Lumley
as Elvira, Marcia Warren
as Madame Arcati, Simon Cadell
as Charles and Jane Asher
as Ruth.
Blithe Spirit was revived on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre
on March 31, 1987 in a production directed by Brian Murray, designed by Finlay James and with costume design by Theoni V. Aldredge
. It starred Richard Chamberlain
as Charles, Blythe Danner
as Elvira, Judith Ivey
as Ruth and Geraldine Page
, who received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress, as Madame Arcati. It ran for 104 performances. Page died of a heart attack during the play's run. Patricia Conolly
succeeded Page in the role.
In 2002 the play was given a short production at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York, with Twiggy
as Elvira, Dana Ivey
as Madame Arcati, Patricia Kalember
as Ruth, and Daniel Gerroll
, who also directed, as Charles. The piece was back in the West End at the Savoy Theatre
in 2004, in a production directed by Thea Sharrock
, starring Amanda Drew
as Elvira, Penelope Keith
(succeeded by Stephanie Cole
) as Madame Arcati, Aden Gillett
as Charles and Joanna Riding
as Ruth.
A Broadway revival began previews on February 26, 2009 at the Shubert Theatre
with an official opening on March 15, 2009. Michael Blakemore
directed, with the cast starring Angela Lansbury
as Madame Arcati, Christine Ebersole
as Elvira, Rupert Everett
as Charles, Jayne Atkinson
as Ruth and Simon Jones
as Dr. Bradman. The New York Times
found the revival somewhat uneven, calling the opening performance "bumpy", but praised Lansbury as Madame Arcati. Lansbury won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress, and Martin Pakledinaz
was nominated for the Tony for Best Costume Design. The play won the Drama League Award
for Distinguished Revival of a Play.
Thea Sharrock
is the director of a limited-run revival of the play, which was produced in tryouts at several regional theatres in November 2010 and February 2011 and is scheduled to play in the West End at the Apollo Theatre
from 2 March to 18 June 2011. The cast includes Alison Steadman
as Madame Arcati, Robert Bathurst
as Charles, Hermione Norris
as Ruth and Ruthie Henshall
as Elvira.
Ruth's ghost immediately comes back for revenge on Elvira, and though Charles cannot at first see Ruth, he can see that Elvira is being chased and tormented, and his house is in uproar. He calls Madame Arcati back to exorcise both of the spirits, but instead of banishing them, she materialises Ruth. With both his dead wives now fully visible, and neither of them in the best of tempers, Charles, together with Madame Arcati, goes through séance after séance and spell after spell to try to exorcise them, and at last Madame Arcati succeeds. Charles is left seemingly in peace, but Madame Arcati, hinting that the ghosts may still be around unseen, warns him that he should go far away as soon as possible. Charles leaves at once, and the unseen ghosts throw things and destroy the room as soon as he has gone. (In the David Lean film version, the ghosts thwart Charles's attempt to escape, and his car is again sabotaged; he crashes and joins them as a ghost, with Elvira at one arm and Ruth at the other.)
When the play transferred from the Piccadilly Theatre to the St. James's Theatre in 1942, Coward took over the role of Charles for a time.
, in 1964, with book, music and lyrics by Hugh Martin
and Timothy Gray. It had a Broadway run of 375 performances, starring Tammy Grimes
as Elvira, Edward Woodward
as Charles and Beatrice Lillie
in an expanded role as Madame Arcati. It also had a brief West End run. Noël Coward directed the Broadway production. The show received eight Tony Award
nominations but did not win any. Among the other major musical nominees that same year (1964) were Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly!
and most of the major Tony wins went to the latter.
. The cast included Kay Hammond as Elvira, Margaret Rutherford
as Madame Arcati, Rex Harrison
as Charles and Constance Cummings
as Ruth.
Coward directed a 1956 American TV production, where he also starred as Charles, with Lauren Bacall
as Elvira, Mildred Natwick
as Madame Arcati and Claudette Colbert
as Ruth. Another TV-production was presented in 1966 on the Hallmark Hall of Fame
, with Rosemary Harris
as Elvira, Dirk Bogarde
as Charles, Rachel Roberts as Ruth, and Ruth Gordon
as Madame Arcati.
On UK radio and television, notable portrayals of Madame Arcati have been given by Hattie Jacques
(ITV 1964, directed by Joan Kemp-Welch, Joanna Dunham
as Elvira, Griffith Jones
as Charles and Helen Cherry
as Ruth) and Peggy Mount
(BBC radio 1983, with Anna Massey
as Elvira, Paul Eddington
as Charles and Julia McKenzie
as Ruth). In December 2008, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a new adaptation of the play for radio, by Bert Coules
, with Roger Allam
as Charles, Maggie Steed
as Madame Arcati, Zoe Waites as Elvira and Hermione Gulliford
as Ruth.
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
's poem "To a Skylark
To a Skylark
Percy Bysshe Shelley completed the poem "To a Skylark" in late June, 1820, and forwarded it to London to be included among the verse accompanying Prometheus Unbound published by Charles and James Collier in London....
" ("Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! / Bird thou never wert"). The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
, hoping to gather material for his next book. The scheme backfires when he is haunted by the ghost of his annoying and temperamental first wife, Elvira, following the séance. Elvira makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles's marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost.
The play was first seen in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
of London in 1941, creating a new long-run record for non-musical British plays of 1,997 performances. It also did well on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
later that year, running for 657 performances. Coward adapted the play for film in 1945, starring Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
, and directed a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
adaptation, High Spirits
High Spirits (musical)
High Spirits is a musical with a book, lyrics, and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, about a man's problems caused by the spirit of his dead wife....
, on Broadway in 1964. It was also adapted for television in the 1950s and 1960s and for radio. The play enjoyed several West End and Broadway revivals in the 1970s and 1980s and was revived again in London in 2004. It returned to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in February 2009.
Background
The title of the play is taken from ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
's poem "To a Skylark
To a Skylark
Percy Bysshe Shelley completed the poem "To a Skylark" in late June, 1820, and forwarded it to London to be included among the verse accompanying Prometheus Unbound published by Charles and James Collier in London....
". After his London office and apartment had been destroyed in The Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
, Coward wrote Blithe Spirit in 1941 during a holiday that he took with actress Joyce Carey
Joyce Carey
Joyce Carey, OBE was a British actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1984, and she was performing on television in her nineties. Though never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen...
to Portmeirion
Portmeirion
Portmeirion is a popular tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village and is now owned by a charitable trust....
on the coast of Snowdonia
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. He wrote it straight through from beginning to end while staying at the Fountain 2 (Upper Fountain) suite at Portmeirion and only two lines of dialogue were removed before its first production in London. In his autobiography Coward claimed he wrote the play in five days.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, before Russia
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
and the U.S. joined forces with the Allies, Great Britain was suffering severe casualties and facing German bombing attacks at home. Coward felt that British audiences would want to view an escapist comedy such as Blithe Spirit. The play provoked a small outcry at the time of its first performances, as it was seen to be possibly making fun of death at the height of the war; however, such objections were quickly forgotten, and the play went on to set British box-office records. The subject was timely for many, because people who wished to contact their loved ones who had died in the war were turning to spiritualism. The play's run of 1,997 consecutive performances set a record for non-musical plays in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
that was not surpassed until Boeing Boeing
Boeing Boeing (play)
Boeing-Boeing is a classic farce written by French playwright Marc Camoletti. The English language adaptation, translated by Beverley Cross, was first staged in London at the Apollo Theatre in 1962 and transferred to the Duchess Theatre in 1965, running for a total of seven years...
in the 1960s.
Coward repeats one of his signature theatrical devices at the end of the play, where the central character tiptoes out as the curtain falls – a device that he also used in Present Laughter
Present Laughter
Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
, Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
and Hay Fever
Hay Fever
Hay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
.
Productions
The play was first produced at the Manchester Opera HouseManchester Opera House
The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England is a 1,920 seater commercial touring theatre which plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is the sister to the Palace Theatre which is a similar venue in nearby Oxford Street at its junction with Whitworth...
in June 1941, and then premiered in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
at the Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
on July 21, 1941, and transferred to the St. James's Theatre and then the Duchess Theatre
Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels....
for a total of 1,997 performances. It was directed by Coward, and the principal cast members were Kay Hammond as Elvira, Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
as Madame Arcati, Cecil Parker
Cecil Parker
Cecil Parker was an English character and comedy actor with a distinctive husky voice, who usually played supporting roles in his 91 films made between 1928 and 1969....
as Charles and Fay Compton
Fay Compton
Fay Compton was an English actress from a notable acting lineage; her father was actor/manager Edward Compton; her mother, Virginia Bateman, was a distinguished member of the profession, as were her sister, the actress Viola Compton, and her uncles and aunts. Her grandfather was the 19th-century...
as Ruth. During the run, Beryl Measor took over as Madame Arcati and Irene Browne
Irene Browne
Irene Browne was an English stage and film actress and singer who appeared in plays and musicals such as No, No, Nanette. Later in her career, she became particularly associated with the works of Noel Coward and acted in films....
took over the role of Ruth. Sets and costumes were designed by Gladys Calthrop
Gladys Calthrop
Gladys E. Calthrop was an artist and leading British stage designer. She is best known as the set and costume designer for many of Noël Coward's plays and musicals.-Life and career:...
.
The Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
premiere took place on November 5, 1941 at the Morosco Theatre
Morosco Theatre
The Morosco Theatre was a legitimate theatre located at 217 West 45th Street in the heart of the theater district in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States....
in a production staged by John C. Wilson and designed by Stewart Chaney. In the cast were Leonora Corbett as Elvira, Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick was an American stage and film actress.- Early life :A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born to Joseph and Mildred Marion Dawes Natwick. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore...
as Madame Arcati, Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for his Oscar-nominated roles in such films as Laura, The Razor's Edge, and Sitting Pretty...
as Charles and Peggy Wood
Peggy Wood
Peggy Wood was an American actress of stage, film and television.-Early career:She was born Mary Margaret Wood in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Eugene Wood, a journalist, and Mary Gardner, a telegraph operator. She was a direct descendant of Daniel Boone...
as Ruth. The play transferred to the Booth Theatre
Booth Theatre
The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 222 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York City.Architect Henry B. Herts designed the Booth and its companion Shubert Theatre as a back-to-back pair sharing a Venetian Renaissance-style façade...
on May 18, 1942 and it ran for a total of 657 performances. Coward starred as Charles in a wartime UK touring company, beginning in September 1942, with Joyce Carey
Joyce Carey
Joyce Carey, OBE was a British actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1984, and she was performing on television in her nineties. Though never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen...
as Ruth, Judy Campbell
Judy Campbell
Judy Campbell was an English light comedy actress and occasional playwright, Noël Coward's muse. Her daughter is the actor and singer Jane Birkin, her son the screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin, and among her grandchildren are the actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, the poet Anno...
as Elvira and Molly Johnson as Madame Arcati. Dennis Price
Dennis Price
Dennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
covered for Coward when the latter was taken ill.
In July 1970, the play was revived in the West End at the Globe Theatre
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
, starring Amanda Reiss as Elvira, Beryl Reid
Beryl Reid
Beryl Elizabeth Reid, OBE was a British actress of stage and screen.-Early life:Born in Hereford, England in 1919, Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in Manchester where she attended Withington and Levenshulme High Schools.-Career:Reid applied for and was accepted in a revue in...
as Madame Arcati, Patrick Cargill
Patrick Cargill
Patrick Cargill was a British actor known for his role on the British television sitcom Father, Dear Father.-Career:...
as Charles and Phyllis Calvert
Phyllis Calvert
Phyllis Calvert was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s....
as Ruth and ran until January 1971. It was then revived by the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in 1976, in a production directed by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, starring Maria Aitken
Maria Aitken
Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken is an English actress, writer, producer and director.Aitken was born in Dublin, the daughter of Sir William Aitken, a Conservative MP, and socialite Penelope Aitken, whose father was John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby. She is a great-niece of newspaper magnate and...
as Elvira, Elizabeth Spriggs
Elizabeth Spriggs
-Early life and career:Born in Buxton, Derbyshire as Elizabeth Jean Williams, Spriggs had an unhappy childhood and grew up entirely without affection, particularly from her distant, domineering father, a master builder and farmer. She studied at the Royal College of Music and taught speech and...
as Madame Arcati, Rowena Cooper as Ruth and Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson (actor)
Richard Johnson is an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career. He most recently appeared in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.-Life and career:...
as Charles. Another London revival played in 1986 at the Vaudeville Theatre
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
, starring Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
as Elvira, Marcia Warren
Marcia Warren
Marcia Warren is an English stage, film and television actress. On stage, she appeared in Blithe Spirit as Madame Arcati, and The Sea at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.-Partial filmography:...
as Madame Arcati, Simon Cadell
Simon Cadell
Simon John Cadell was an English actor.Born in London, he was the grandson of the Scottish character actor Jean Cadell, the brother of the actress Selina Cadell, and the cousin of the actor Guy Siner. He was educated at Bedales School at Petersfield where his close friends included Gyles...
as Charles and Jane Asher
Jane Asher
Jane Asher is an English actress. She has also developed a second career as a cake decorator and cake shop proprietor.-Early life:...
as Ruth.
Blithe Spirit was revived on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre
Neil Simon Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre, formerly the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway venue built in 1927 and located at 250 West 52nd Street in midtown-Manhattan....
on March 31, 1987 in a production directed by Brian Murray, designed by Finlay James and with costume design by Theoni V. Aldredge
Theoni V. Aldredge
Theoni V. Aldredge was a Greek-American stage and screen costume designer.Born Theoni Athanasiou Vachlioti in Thessaloniki in 1922, Aldredge received her training at the American School in Athens. She emigrated to the United States in 1949 and attended the Goodman Theatre at DePaul University,...
. It starred Richard Chamberlain
Richard Chamberlain
George Richard Chamberlain is an American actor of stage and screen who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare .-Early life:...
as Charles, Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner is an American actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...
as Elvira, Judith Ivey
Judith Ivey
Judith Lee Ivey is an American actress and director.-Personal life:Ivey was born in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Dorothy Lee , a teacher, and Nathan Aldean Ivey, a college instructor and dean. She spent 1965-1968 in Dowagiac, Michigan, where she attended Union High School through tenth grade...
as Ruth and Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
, who received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress, as Madame Arcati. It ran for 104 performances. Page died of a heart attack during the play's run. Patricia Conolly
Patricia Conolly
Patricia Conolly is an Australian stage actress.-Biography:Conolly began her stage career in Australia where she grew up, and has performed in England in the West End, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Chichester Festival Theatre ; in Canada for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival; and on Broadway,...
succeeded Page in the role.
In 2002 the play was given a short production at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York, with Twiggy
Twiggy
Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
as Elvira, Dana Ivey
Dana Ivey
Dana Robins Ivey is an American character actress, who has performed on Broadway and other stage roles, in film and on television.-Early life and family:Ivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia...
as Madame Arcati, Patricia Kalember
Patricia Kalember
Patricia Kathryn Kalember is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Georgiana "Georgie" Reed Whitsig on the NBC drama Sisters , Susannah Hart Shepherd on the popular 1980s television show Thirtysomething and as Judge Karen Taten on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit .- Life and...
as Ruth, and Daniel Gerroll
Daniel Gerroll
Daniel Gerroll is a British theatre, television, and film actor.Born in London, Gerroll has appeared on television in both the United Kingdom and the United States, although his greater contribution has been to the stage in both countries...
, who also directed, as Charles. The piece was back in the West End at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
in 2004, in a production directed by Thea Sharrock
Thea Sharrock
Thea Sharrock is an award-winning English theatre director. In 2001, when at age 24 she became artistic director of London's Southwark Playhouse, she was the youngest artistic director in British theatre....
, starring Amanda Drew
Amanda Drew
Amanda Drew is a British actress. Drew is best known for her role as the psychotic Dr. May Wright in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Biography:...
as Elvira, Penelope Keith
Penelope Keith
Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
(succeeded by Stephanie Cole
Stephanie Cole
Stephanie Cole, OBE is an English stage, television, and film actress, best known for playing characters a great deal older than her actual age.-Early life:...
) as Madame Arcati, Aden Gillett
Aden Gillett
John Aden Gillett is a British actor best known for playing the role of Jack Maddox on the popular BBC series The House of Eliott....
as Charles and Joanna Riding
Joanna Riding
Joanna Riding, is an English actress. For her work in West End musicals, she has won two Laurence Olivier Awards, and has been nominated for two others.-Biography:...
as Ruth.
A Broadway revival began previews on February 26, 2009 at the Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...
with an official opening on March 15, 2009. Michael Blakemore
Michael Blakemore
Michael Howell Blakemore OBE is an Australian actor, writer and theatre director. In 2000 he became the only individual to win Tony Awards for best Director of a Play and Musical in the same year for Copenhagen and Kiss Me, Kate....
directed, with the cast starring Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
as Madame Arcati, Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole is an American actress and singer.-Early life:Ebersole was born in Winnetka, Illinois, where she attended New Trier High School...
as Elvira, Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
as Charles, Jayne Atkinson
Jayne Atkinson
Jayne Atkinson is an English-born American film, theatre and television actress. She is perhaps best known for the role of Karen Hayes on 24 as well as her Tony Award-nominated roles in The Rainmaker and Enchanted April...
as Ruth and Simon Jones
Simon Jones (actor)
Simon Jones is an English actor, most famous for his appearances in the television and radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which he played the lead role of Arthur Dent from 1978 to 2005...
as Dr. Bradman. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
found the revival somewhat uneven, calling the opening performance "bumpy", but praised Lansbury as Madame Arcati. Lansbury won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress, and Martin Pakledinaz
Martin Pakledinaz
Martin Pakledinaz is an American costume designer for stage and film.He won his Tony Awards for designing the costumes of Thoroughly Modern Millie and the 2000 revival of Kiss Me Kate, which also earned him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design.He worked on the 1995 production of...
was nominated for the Tony for Best Costume Design. The play won the Drama League Award
Drama League Award
The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
for Distinguished Revival of a Play.
Thea Sharrock
Thea Sharrock
Thea Sharrock is an award-winning English theatre director. In 2001, when at age 24 she became artistic director of London's Southwark Playhouse, she was the youngest artistic director in British theatre....
is the director of a limited-run revival of the play, which was produced in tryouts at several regional theatres in November 2010 and February 2011 and is scheduled to play in the West End at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
from 2 March to 18 June 2011. The cast includes Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman OBE is an English actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party and Candice Marie in Nuts in May for the director Mike Leigh, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective,...
as Madame Arcati, Robert Bathurst
Robert Bathurst
Robert Guy Bathurst is an English actor. Bathurst was born in the Gold Coast in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. His family moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 1959 and Bathurst was enrolled at an Anglican boarding school...
as Charles, Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris is an English actress.Norris attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet...
as Ruth and Ruthie Henshall
Ruthie Henshall
Valentine Ruth Henshall , better known as Ruthie Henshall, is an English singer, dancer, and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Henshall attended the Laine Theatre Arts school in Epsom, Surrey before making her first professional appearance on stage in 1986...
as Elvira.
Synopsis
Charles Condomine, a successful novelist, wishes to learn about the occult for a novel he is writing, and he arranges for an eccentric medium, Madame Arcati, to hold a séance at his house. At the séance, she inadvertently summons Charles's first wife, Elvira, who has been dead for seven years. Madame Arcati leaves after the séance, unaware that she has summoned Elvira. Only Charles can see or hear Elvira, and his second wife, Ruth, does not believe that Elvira exists until a floating vase is handed to her out of thin air. The ghostly Elvira makes continued, and increasingly desperate, efforts to disrupt Charles's current marriage. She finally sabotages his car in the hope of killing him so that he will join her in the spirit world, but it is Ruth rather than Charles who drives off and is killed.Ruth's ghost immediately comes back for revenge on Elvira, and though Charles cannot at first see Ruth, he can see that Elvira is being chased and tormented, and his house is in uproar. He calls Madame Arcati back to exorcise both of the spirits, but instead of banishing them, she materialises Ruth. With both his dead wives now fully visible, and neither of them in the best of tempers, Charles, together with Madame Arcati, goes through séance after séance and spell after spell to try to exorcise them, and at last Madame Arcati succeeds. Charles is left seemingly in peace, but Madame Arcati, hinting that the ghosts may still be around unseen, warns him that he should go far away as soon as possible. Charles leaves at once, and the unseen ghosts throw things and destroy the room as soon as he has gone. (In the David Lean film version, the ghosts thwart Charles's attempt to escape, and his car is again sabotaged; he crashes and joins them as a ghost, with Elvira at one arm and Ruth at the other.)
Roles and original cast
The original West End cast was as follows:- Charles Condomine – Cecil ParkerCecil ParkerCecil Parker was an English character and comedy actor with a distinctive husky voice, who usually played supporting roles in his 91 films made between 1928 and 1969....
- Ruth Condomine, his second wife – Fay ComptonFay ComptonFay Compton was an English actress from a notable acting lineage; her father was actor/manager Edward Compton; her mother, Virginia Bateman, was a distinguished member of the profession, as were her sister, the actress Viola Compton, and her uncles and aunts. Her grandfather was the 19th-century...
- Elvira Condomine, his first wife and ghostly presence – Kay Hammond
- Madame Arcati, a medium – Margaret RutherfordMargaret RutherfordDame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
- Doctor George Bradman, a friend – Martin Lewis
- Mrs. Bradman, his wife – Moya Nugent
- Edith, a maid – Ruth Reeves
When the play transferred from the Piccadilly Theatre to the St. James's Theatre in 1942, Coward took over the role of Charles for a time.
Musical
The play was adapted into a musical, High SpiritsHigh Spirits (musical)
High Spirits is a musical with a book, lyrics, and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, about a man's problems caused by the spirit of his dead wife....
, in 1964, with book, music and lyrics by Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St...
and Timothy Gray. It had a Broadway run of 375 performances, starring Tammy Grimes
Tammy Grimes
-Early life:Grimes was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of Eola Willard , a naturalist and spiritualist, and Nicholas Luther Grimes, an innkeeper, country-club manager, and farmer. She attended high school at the then-all girls school, Beaver Country Day School, in Chestnut Hill,...
as Elvira, Edward Woodward
Edward Woodward
Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE was an English stage and screen actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , Woodward began his career on stage, and throughout his career he appeared in productions in both the West End in London and on Broadway in New York...
as Charles and Beatrice Lillie
Beatrice Lillie
Beatrice Gladys "Bea" Lillie was an actress and comedic performer. Following her 1920 marriage to Sir Robert Peel in England, she was known in private life as Lady Peel.-Early career:...
in an expanded role as Madame Arcati. It also had a brief West End run. Noël Coward directed the Broadway production. The show received eight Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations but did not win any. Among the other major musical nominees that same year (1964) were Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
and most of the major Tony wins went to the latter.
Film, television and radio
Blithe Spirit was also made into a successful film in 1945, adapted by Coward and directed by David LeanDavid Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
. The cast included Kay Hammond as Elvira, Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
as Madame Arcati, Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
as Charles and Constance Cummings
Constance Cummings
Constance Cummings, CBE was an American-born British actress, known for her work on both screen and stage.Born Constance Halverstadt in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Dallas Vernon Halverstadt, a lawyer, and his wife, Kate Logan Cummings, a concert soprano. she began as a stage actress,...
as Ruth.
Coward directed a 1956 American TV production, where he also starred as Charles, with Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
as Elvira, Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick was an American stage and film actress.- Early life :A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born to Joseph and Mildred Marion Dawes Natwick. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore...
as Madame Arcati and Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
as Ruth. Another TV-production was presented in 1966 on the Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
, with Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Ann Harris is an English actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. Throughout her career she has been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and has won a Golden Globe, an Emmy, a Tony Award, an Obie, and five Drama Desk Awards.-Early life:Harris was born in...
as Elvira, Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
as Charles, Rachel Roberts as Ruth, and Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
as Madame Arcati.
On UK radio and television, notable portrayals of Madame Arcati have been given by Hattie Jacques
Hattie Jacques
Josephine Edwina Jaques was an English comedy actress, known as Hattie Jacques.Starting her career in the 1940s, Jacques first gained attention through her radio appearances with Tommy Handley on ITMA and later with Tony Hancock on Hancock's Half Hour...
(ITV 1964, directed by Joan Kemp-Welch, Joanna Dunham
Joanna Dunham
Joanna Dunham is an English actress, best noted for her work on stage and television. She has also appeared in several major motion pictures.-Career:Dunham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England...
as Elvira, Griffith Jones
Griffith Jones (actor)
Griffith Jones was an English film, stage and television actor.Born in London, England, Jones was the son of a Welsh-speaking dairy owner. In 1932, he married Robin Isaac, and they had two children: the actors Gemma Jones and Nicholas Jones...
as Charles and Helen Cherry
Helen Cherry
Helen Cherry was an English stage and film actress.-Career:Helen Mary Cherry was born at Thurgarton, Worsley, Lancashire, the daughter of John William Cherry, a works manager then serving as a captain in the 45th Provisional Battalion, and his wife, Annie Nall.Educated in Harrogate, Helen Cherry...
as Ruth) and Peggy Mount
Peggy Mount
Margaret Rose "Peggy" Mount OBE, was an English actress of stage and screen. She was perhaps best known for playing battleaxe characters, though her real personality was said to have been far removed from such roles. She was also well-known for her distinctive voice.- Early life :Mount was born in...
(BBC radio 1983, with Anna Massey
Anna Massey
Anna Raymond Massey, CBE was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac.-Early life:...
as Elvira, Paul Eddington
Paul Eddington
Paul Eddington CBE was an English actor best known for his appearances in popular television sitcoms of the 1970s and 80s: The Good Life, Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.-Early life:...
as Charles and Julia McKenzie
Julia McKenzie
Julia McKenzie is an English actress, singer, and theatre director. She is best-known for her performance in Fresh Fields, but to current television audiences, she is best known for her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple...
as Ruth). In December 2008, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a new adaptation of the play for radio, by Bert Coules
Bert Coules
Bert Coules is an English writer, mainly for the BBC, who has produced a number of adaptations and original works. He works mainly in radio drama but also writes for TV and the stage.-Early years:...
, with Roger Allam
Roger Allam
Roger Allam is an English actor, known primarily for his stage career, although he has performed in film and television. He played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical Les Misérables....
as Charles, Maggie Steed
Maggie Steed
Maggie Steed is an English actress and comedienne.-Youth:After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, she left the theatre for several years.-Career:...
as Madame Arcati, Zoe Waites as Elvira and Hermione Gulliford
Hermione Gulliford
Hermione Gulliford is an English actress, born in Somerset. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in 1994.She has worked extensively in the theatre, including The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal Shakespeare Company.Television...
as Ruth.
External links
- Internet Broadway Database listing
- Blithe Spirit at ThatTheatreSite Provides character listing, reviews of several productions, and current upcoming auditions.
- Blithe Spirit Provides links to reviews of the 2009 Broadway revival