The three-act play Blithe Spirit opened last week at The Plaza Arts Center theater and returns this weekend to deliver a lively mix of supernatural mischief, marital rivalry, and witty banter. In it, playwright Noel Coward seems to suggest the past can be difficult to escape — particularly when it returns in the form of a ghost.
The story opens with novelist Charles Condomine, ably played by veteran local actor Lou Benjamin, inviting psychic Madame Arcati (Suzanne Vest) to conduct a séance as research for his new book. What begins as an evening of curiosity takes an unexpected turn, however, when Arcati successfully summons Charles’ deceased first wife, Elvira, played by Sue Strange in just her second stage acting experience.
Elvira’s return creates immediate complications for Charles, as he alone can see her, creating a supernatural love triangle with his second and current wife, Ruth, portrayed Michelle Saarela.
Significantly, Charles but not Ruth can see and hear Elvira, leaving him struggling to control and explain some increasingly bizarre occurences and behavior.
Meanwhile, Elvira has no intention of making it easy on her ex.
Benjamin brings great comic energy to Charles’ predicament, balancing his character’s attempts at composure with growing frustration as his two marriages collide. Saarela provides a fitting contrast as Ruth, whose practical outlook is tested by Elvira’s mischievous charm.
Vest approaches her role as Madame Arcati with vigor, making her supernatural activities all the more entertaining.
Her confidence sets the story in motion, with consequences well beyond anything Charles could have imagined.
Meanwhile, the supporting cast ably contributes to the domestic chaos. Phil Armstrong and Lu Feldman appear as the unwitting Dr. and Mrs. Bradman in a social setting gradually overtaken by the supernatural. Likewise, Carol Grant plays Edith, the Condomines’ easily flustered maid, who delivers more than initially appears.
Much of the play’s appeal lies in its rapid-fire banter and Coward’s ability to find humor in jealousy, domestic strife, and the competing demands within any marriage.
Despite its many twists and turns, co-directors Dennis McClain, Sarah Daly Weir, and Kathy Wardlaw in her directorial debut have done an admirable job of making Blithe Spirit a quick, easyto- follow romp about romantic rivalry, ghostly complications, and what might happen when the past refuses to stay buried.
Blithe Spirit continues this Thursday and Friday nights at The Plaza, with a final matinee Sunday afternoon. All tickets are $25 and available at app.artspeople. com/?show=351147.