Production Response: Blithe Spirit Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit combines humor and the supernatural to create a fun and spellbinding experience. I enjoyed the production of this play very much, not able to take my eyes off the stage. From the tone of the play and the way the production varied from the original play, I felt the director’s concept was that of a Beetlejuice nature, say the name and they shall appear. Before Elvira comes back, Charles and Ruth speak of her for a solid five minutes. As I watched the production, each mention of her name made me think of Beetlejuice the movie. Speak of the devil, seemed to be another seemed concept. I believe some of the themes are jealousy, female hysteria, and deception. The theme of jealousy arises at the start of the play when Ruth and Charles are discussing Elvira. Her questioning Charles about her appearance in contrast to Elvira. Her jealousy is seen again after Charles begins acting ‘crazy’ and won’t stop talking about seeing the ghost of his late wife, she doesn’t like that Elvira is all he thinks about ever since she brought her up to begin with. As the play progresses Elvira becomes just as jealous of Ruth, so much that she tries to kill Charles. Female hysteria was a big ‘problem’ in the 30s and 40s, or so it was believed. Women were sheltered because of the notion that they would not be able to handle any kind of upsetting news. This idea is reflected in Ruth after Charles claims to see Elvira and acts like she's there all the time, she gets drunk and gets mad, and he has to calm her down. Deception is seen in Madame Arcati, for she is not the medium or psychic she says she is. It is unclear as to whether or not she believes it herself but the other characters and the audience out certainly do not. The first stage picture I saw was during the scene when Madame Arcati was drinking all of the martinis and walking around the room, at one point she stops in the center of the stage facing the audience chugging the drink. Everyone is looking at her with bewilderment and the scene stops for a brief moment as Arcati finish the drink. The state picture paints Madame Arcati as an alcoholic, which probably isn’t far from the truth, as discredits her character completely because in media, the alcoholics are usually looked at as being the burden with no real qualities or purpose other than comic relief. Later, though we find that she is indeed a fraud and holds no actual credibility. The second stage picture I saw was the scene in which Ruth gets drunk and confronts Charles about Elvira and how he’s been acting like he’s still in love with her. She’s standing in front of the chair at center stage, arms wide open, hands floppy from the alcohol, her eyes crazy and Charles standing beside her looking at her like she’s gone mad. The focus is on her because she is at center stage and the only other person on stage is looking at her while she makes her The third stage picture is of Edith waddling/limping into the room with a bandage around her head and one around her ankle. The scene involved Charles, Madame Arcati, and the ghosts of Elvira and Ruth. Edith is sat in the main chair at center stage with Madame Arcati leaning over her shoulder from behind the chair. The focus is Edith because everyone is looking at her. Edith, being the clumsy girl she is, has her legs sprawled out as she slouches in the chair. If you had never read or seen the play this picture might assume that the surrounding people were bombarding Edith with questions or scaring her, based on her terrified expression.
III. Production Elements for the Ghosts It was easy to tell the difference between the ghosts and the living based on how they look. As living characters, Charles, Madame Arcati, Ruth Edith and the Bradmans have color in their faces, and colorful clothing. They are also able to see each other. Elvira, however, has a white glaze over her skin and hair. Her white dress is a contrast to the Ruth’s pink gown and Mrs. Bradman’s green. As the play text states, Charles and later Edith, are the only ones that are able to see Elvira. Ruth, before her death does not believe that her husband is telling the truth about the ghost of his late wife, and even though Elvira makes herself known by moving the flower and other things. The audience could obviously see Elvira, but it is known that she is a ghost. The set designers gave the illusion that Elvira came through the window, but when Charles attempted to go through it, he could not. Paul Knapp’s performance as Charles Condomine was a different take on how, when I read the play, imagined the character to be. When reading the play, I imagined Charles as a snooty and pompous middle aged man, but Knapp gave him a more human feel, he made him much more personable. I saw that he studied how to open a cigarette holder and knew how to hold the cigarette itself. His clothing gave the impression that he was a semi-wealthy man in the 1940’s, my favorite article being the patterned jacket. The way he spoke of his writing made me think that he wanted the audience to know he was a little insecure about it and making his next book a good one. The acting on the part of Kayla Hurd as Madame Arcati was great. She seemed to really put work into her character. Her outfit was just what I imagined her to wear, although her hair was much neater. The accent she chose to put on was entertaining and every time she spoke I found myself enjoying the show more. Hund’s portrayal was spot on with the text of the play. She made me feel like it wasn’t a play, like I was watching actual events unfold; I really got lost in her character. I felt like she wanted people, probably herself included, to think of her as a serious medium, not the joke she was. It didn’t really work because every time something would happen with the ghosts she would act like a giddy schoolgirl, which is most definitely not the behavior of a serious woman. This production used elements of design that, before taking this class, I didn’t know existed. The amount of work that goes into putting on a production of this magnitude is incredible.