By Angela Rocco DeCarlo,copyright, 2011
Blithe Spirit, the 1941 Noel Coward comedy, playing at the intimate Costa Mesa Playhouse until September 25, allows theater-goers the opportunity to enjoy good talent, brilliant dialog, all amid some zany antics designed to conjure back to life the dear departed. The three-hour production is directed by David Anthony Blair.
Coward's play opened in 1941 London during the worst of the German bombings: The Blitz - of Britain during World War II. So it might be easy to see how a creative exercise onstage, of retrieving loved ones from the grave, would resonate at that time in history. However, the play has enjoyed long life, with many revivals, during the past 70 years. It's most recent incarnation on Broadway was in 2009 with Angela Lansbury in the key role of Madame Arcati, the eccentric medium, who accidentally conjures a dead wife, much to the chagrin of the current, alive wife.
The Costa Mesa specter hits the right notes of comedy and British sophistication without creeping anyone to pieces. The seven-member cast of this well-staged production is fortunate to be well-clothed and placed onto a nicely designed set, as they handle the required British accents with success. Author Coward ...
