More Details About Blithe Spirit
More Information
Heidi Helen Davis conjures up a production of Blithe Spirit, Noel Coward's classic comedy of the occult , on the outdoor stage at Theatricum Botanicum, a fitting addition to this summer's season of plays featuring elements of magic and enchantment.
Coward's urbane comic soufflé is set in the country home of Charles Condomine (Mark Bramhall), a remarried widower. A casual, witty evening among friends is transformed by a séance when Madame Arcarti (Ellen Geer) summons the silvery ghost of Charles' temperamental first wife, Elvira (Abby Craden). To Charles' annoyance, Elvira delights in wreaking havoc and hilarity among the living. Worse still, his present wife, Ruth (Melora Marshall) cannot see or hear her.
The world premiere of Blithe Spirit took place in war-shattered London on July 2, 1941, and attained such phenomenal popularity that it ran for 1,997 performances (nearly five years, the longest run of a nonmusical play in London stage history at that time), while three other companies toured England with the play. Noel Coward himself originated the role of Charles Condomine. The American premiere occurred later the same year, where Variety christened it "the only supernatural drawing room farce," and it was also a huge success. Coward adapted the play to be filmed in 1954, and the film featured many of the original stage actors, including Margaret Rutherford.
The 1941 debut of Blithe Spirit provoked a small outcry in Britain; some were troubled by the idea of poking fun at death at the height of World War II. Those complaints were quickly forgotten, however, as the play went on to break and hold all British box office records for the next 30 years. In his autobiography Coward claimed he wrote Blithe Spirit in just five days while on vacation in the south of Wales, after his London apartment and office were destroyed in the Blitz.
Noel Coward (1899-1973) was a British playwright, actor, composer and director whose name became synonymous with urbanity, sophistication, incomparable wit and a certain sentimentality. The characters in his 27 plays are usually rich, vain, spoiled and snobbish couples who express themselves with a brittle badinage that covers the suffering they undergo together or apart. Coward's success was such that five of his plays were hits in London in 1925. His major films include the romantic masterpiece Brief Encounter (1946) and the patriotic film In Which We Serve (1942), for which he was director, actor and producer.
Heidi Helen Davis has directed many Theatricum favorites over the years, including You Never Can Tell, Watch on the Rhine, Threepenny Opera, The Seagull, Harold and Maude, The Madwoman of Chaillot, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Lettice and Lovage, Medea, Lysistrata 2003, Our Town, Toys in the Attic, and Ellen Geer's autobiographical And the Dark Cloud Came with John Randolph, Ed Asner, and Jeff Corey playing House Un-American Activities Committee members. Other directorial credits include Proof, S.A.M. I Am, Songs of Harmony, Not a Through Street, Baby Dance, Treats, The Person I Once Was, Death in Bethany, Eulogy, Fifth Of July, Abundance, Waiting For Lefty, and I Hate Hamlet. After studying acting and performing with Phillip Pruneau for four years, she completed the Master Program at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where she was a company member. She teaches acting at the Howard Fine Studio, East West Players, and "Working with Actors" at the Los Angeles Film School. She coaches directors and actors both on and off the set.
The beginnings of the Theatricum Botanicum can be traced to the early 1950s when Will Geer, a victim of the McCarthy-era blacklist (before he became known as the beloved Grandpa on TV's "The Waltons") opened a theater for blacklisted actors and folk singers on his property in Topanga. Since 1973, the Theatricum has presented Shakespeare and the classics in repertory in its scenic, outdoor amphitheater in rustic Topanga Canyon; the 299-seat amphitheater is situated in a natural canyon ravine, where audiences are able to relax and enjoy the wilderness in and around the stage area during an afternoon or evening's performance. The Theatricum Botanicum is a recipient of the prestigious Margaret Harford Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's highest honor, for "Sustained Excellence in Theater."
