Blithe Spirit

Aiken

Theatre presents

Aiken

to

Mission

a

whose

and enrich our community by

experience.

ACT Board

presents Blithe Spirit

By Noël Coward

Directed by James Raby

Performed by special arrangement with Samuel French, an imprint of Concord Theatricals Corp.

A note from

Executive Director

Welcome to the second production in Aiken Community Theatre’s 70th Season! We are so glad you could join us for the first of what promises to be a year full of wonderful productions brought to you by your own talented community.

Please be sure to purchase your 70th Season subscription at the box office during box office hours or during intermission tonight.ACT subscribers enjoy a host of benefits including discounted tickets and priority seating. Subscriptions will be on sale through the remainder of the Blithe Spirit run, so hurry!

We thank you for your continued support whether it is a tax-deductible financial gift, in-kind donation, volunteer time or simply applause.

With gratitude and best wishes,

Kyle A. Seconi Executive Director

COMING SOON to ACT

Buddy, a young orphan, would be elf is raised, unaware that he is a human until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa's permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to NYC to find his birth father and discover his identity. Faced with the harsh realities that his father is on the naughty list and his half brother doesn't even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin Music by Matthew Sklar Lyrics by Chad Beguelin

Based upon the New Line Cinema film written by David Berenbaum

Blithe spirit’s

DireCtor’s note

Shortly before Noël Coward wrote Blithe Spirit, during World War II, London suffered heavy bombing by the German Air Force, leaving parts of the city in rubble and dust, including Coward’s own apartment. Responding to this, Coward retreated with a friend to Port Meirion, Wales to write. He decided that he would write a play to provide a merry diversion for his compatriots in those gloomy days. He took an idea about ghosts he had been batting about and quickly wrote Blithe Spirit, barely changing a word after that. “I fixed the paper into the machine and started: Blithe Spirit. A Light Comedy in Three Acts,” he wrote in his memoir Future Indefinite. “For six days, I worked from eight to one each morning and from two to seven each afternoon. On Friday evening, May the 9th, the play was finished and, disdaining archness and false modesty, I will admit that I knew it was witty, I knew it was well constructed, and I also knew that it would be a success.” Given the bleak times in London, some critics grumbled that its subject was inappropriately morbid for a country at war. Coward dismissed the accusations that his play was too gloomy: “There’s no question of that because there’s no heart in the play. You can’t sympathize with any of them. If there was a heart, it would be a sad story.” Apparently, Coward’s light touch on serious matters was a welcome relief for London audiences. The show ran for almost 2,000 performances, setting a record that would not be broken for years on any London stage. Coward felt that what the British people needed was a distraction from the war, a celebration of British life, and a reason to continue to fight for that life. And that’s what he delivered in Blithe Spirit.

Raby

The Story

A smash comedy hit of the London and Broadway stages, this much-revived classic from the playwright of Private Lives offers up fussy, cantankerous novelist Charles Condomine, remarried but haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife, the clever and insistent Elvira, who is called up by a visiting “happy medium,” one Madame Arcati. As the (worldly and un-) personalities clash, Charles’ current wife, Ruth, is accidentally killed, “passes over,” joins Elvira, and the two blithe spirits haunt the hapless

into perpetuity.

THE SCENES

The action of the play passes in the living room of Charles Condomine’s house in Kent, England.

Act I

Scene 1 Before dinner on a summer evening.

Scene 2 After dinner. Scene 3 The next morning.

INTERMISSION – 15 minutes

Act II

Scene 1 Late the following afternoon.

Scene 2 Early evening. A few days later.

Scene 3 After dinner. A few days later.

Scene 4 Several hours later.

James Raby, Director

• James Raby (director) holds a B.F.A. and an M.A. in drama and communication. For ACT, he directed Murder on the Orient Express last fall and served as the assistant director for Of Mice Men under the direction of Robert Franklin. Other directing credits include Oedpus Rex, Vanities, Wings, and Vultures. As an actor, he has have appeared in more than 50 productions. At ACT, he appeared in A Few Good Men (Capt. Whitaker), Peter Pan (Hook/Mr. Darling), The Merchant of Venice (Antonio), Move Over Mrs. Markham (Alastair) and Gibson and Sons (Declan).

Alena Marie Crowley

• Alena (Edith) has dabbled in various branches of the arts being a former member of “Le Petit Cirque” and “The Aerial Angles”, but it is thanks to Blithe Spirit and a recent Garden Theatre production known as “The Frog Princess” that have helped her discover a new love for a world of performing unlike any past endeavors.

Frances Fields

• Frances (Ruth) is a native of Columbia, SC. She earned a BA in Theatre from Coastal Carolina University and is a graduate of The Circus Center's Clown Conservatory in San Francisco. She tours regularly with Porkchop Productions, a children's theatre company, and has performed in professional regional productions at the Palace Theatre in Myrtle Beach and Columbia Children’s Theatre. Since moving to Aiken with her husband in 2016, she has been very active at ACT and recently joined the board of directors.

Deb Fryer

• Deb (Madame Arcati) has appeared at ACT as Mother Superior in Nunsense. Favorite roles include Louise in Always...Patsy Cline, Vernadette in Dixie Swim Club, Clairee in Steel Magnolias, and Ethel in On Golden Pond—plus Penny in You Can’t Take It With You, Florence and Olive in The Odd Couple (female version), Elvira in Blithe Spirit and many others in 7 states. Thanks to supportive hubby, Don and to our wonderful audiences!

Chelsea Glass

• Chelsea (Elvira) just completed her turn as Mrs. Wormwood in Matilda. Credits include Corie in Barefoot in the Park, Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (both at ACT), and Cathy Hyitt in The Last Five Years (Le Chat Noir). Chelsea has gone from one production immediately into the next all year long. She assures her loving and gracious husband, Marshall, that she will now be taking a break. What a wonderful way to end her performance year!

Brandon McVey

• Brandon (Dr. Bradman) recently completed a run as the Viking ancestor and as Death in ‘The Adams Family musical’ out of the Fort Gordon Dinner Theatre. At ACT he appeared as Kyle, New Kyle, and Lobster Man 2 in Someplace Called Mayor’s Income Tennessee, Colonel Arbuthnot in Murder on the Orient Express, and a couple of exciting roles in a workshop showcase, Spare Parts, put on by the Eclectic Actor’s Studio.

Eric Odom

• Eric (Charles) is pleased to be making his ACT debut. He’s recently appeared in The Augusta Player’s productions of "Something Rotten" and "The Velveteen Rabbit", and in Le Chat Noir’s production of "Rules of Seconds". He would like to thank his wife, Jayme, for putting up with him during the rehearsal process and just in general.

Baylor Shull

• Baylor (Mrs. Bradman) was last seen playing Miss Wilkenson in Move Over Mrs. Markham along with director, James Raby. Holding a BA in Theatre from College of Charleston, her favorite roles include The Dormouse (Alice in Wonderland), Jo (Little Women), and Beth (The Crucible). After living in Charleston, Chicago, Asheville, and Denver the past 10 years, she is positively excited to back in familiar territory doing what she loves.