![]() English Language Theatre in Basel since 1975 |
1984 Production - "Blithe Spirit" by Noël Coward
Blithe Spirit (Noël Coward) Director - Richard Levitt Assistant to the Director - Muriel Taylor Production Manager - Ruedi Kuster Stage Manager - Peter Nixon Cast Tony James - Charles Lesley Stockreisser - Elvira, Charles first wife (passed over) Cynthia Baer - Ruth, Charles second wife Barbara Clark - Madame Arcati Graham Simons - Dr Bradman Ruth Meier - Mrs Bradman Joan Kuster - Edith, the Maid
Synopsis
Charles Condomine, a successful novelist, is gathering material for a new book whose plot involves spiritualism. He therefore invites Madame Arcati, the eccentric local medium, to conduct a séance at his home for himself and his second wife, Ruth – with Dr Bradman (the village GP) and his wife to add scientific weight. Charles intends to ferret out the disreputable tricks of a bogus medium; but unfortunately Madame Arcati is not as bogus as she seems, and Charles has overlooked the fact that Elvira, his first wife, “passed over” (mediums never say “die”) some years previously and is consequently waiting on the Other Side. There are, furthermore, powerful forces unconsciously at work under his own roof. As a result, some hectic hours are passed at the Condomines’ and a profound but not altogether unwelcome change takes place in Charles’ life.
Blithe Spirit was written “between one Saturday and the next” in the Watch House, a cottage forming part of the Italiante Welsh village of Portmeirion. Venue: Gymnasium Bäumlihof, Basel 15/16/17/18 February 1984 |
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