Though Josh Booth’s production of Blithe Spirit may fall flat in some areas, it cannot be denied that it does succeed in capturing the farcical humour which distinguishes Coward’s plays. It is always hard to fully appreciate a play from its press preview, but the two scenes shown were ripe with sarcastic one liners and simple slapstick humour. Comedy is harder to perform than people often realise, and the cast of Blithe Spirit handle Coward’s script well and seem to enjoy doing so. Levy and Piplin were a particular delight to watch, as Charles and Ruth, the couple caught in the midst of a séance, watching their marriage disintegrate. There was a nice juxtaposition between Charles’ ‘roguish flippancy’ and the brutal realism of his wife’s disbelief. Charles’ bouncing around the room works well against his wife’s static position in the centre of the room, impassive and unmoving, illustrating the differences between the couple.
However, the performance was not without its problems. One issue with farce is that the humour detracts from the less overstated emotions within the play and can result in unnecessary melodrama. Whilst there are no tragic elements to Blithe Spirit, every line of the play does not have to be humorous and occasionally the performance suffered from actors desperately attempting to wring comedy out of lines which did not need it. This led to some shallow performances from some of the leads and, whilst they could carry the comedy, the rest of their acting had a tendency to descend into grating melodrama. Thus, on the odd occasion, it seemed as if the audience was laughing at, not with, the actors. Another potential pitfall is the venue for the production. Blithe Spirit is a garden performance, and I have some doubts as to how well the staging will translate to the outdoors. Garden productions require scripts that suit the surroundings and Coward’s farce (written to be performed indoors) will appear rather incongruous outside. I fear the set may look somewhat lost in a garden setting and I doubt whether the quality of the production will be able to conceal that. Nonetheless Blithe Spirit was enjoyable to watch – even if on occasion performances slipped into ridiculous melodrama.
Two and a half stars
