Blithe Spirit Resurrecting A Classic
Review by Alice Jones-Rodgers. The mark of a great piece of writing is its ability to transcend generations: a point proven by the latest film adaptation of Noël Coward’s classic 1941 theatre play ‘Blithe Spirit’. As well as being resurrected in theatres and on television numerous times over the last eighty years, the darkly comic play has of course been successfully transferred to the big screen before, when Margaret Rutherford, Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings and Kay Hammond took on the roles of Madame Arcati, Charles Condomine, Ruth Condomine and Elvira Condomine, respectively, in David Lean’s 1945 adaptation. Now, in the
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third decade of the 21st century, ‘Blithe Spirit’ has been given a new lease of life by director Edward Hall, with Dame Judi Dench, Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher and Leslie Mann taking on the aforementioned main roles. ‘Blithe Spirit’ tells the story of writer Charles Condomine, who, struggling for inspration, decides to hold a dinner party. He and his second wife, Ruth, invite a few guests including eccentric local medium, Madame Arcati, who is tasked with performing a seance after the meal. During a number of bizarre rituals, Madame Arcati inadvertently summons the spirit of Charles’ late first wife, Elvira. Only visible to her bewildered widow, Elvira takes up residence in the house and, as annoying in death as she was in life, refuses to leave. 76 years ago, Hammond gave a magnificently frustrating performance
