Review of Blithe Spirit at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester.
Novelist Charles Condomine has invited a local medium and clairvoyant to his home, hoping to gather material for his next book.
As they prepare for the séance, he and his latest wife Ruth jadedly exchange jibes about their previous relationships.
Although their new maid’s shortcomings are causing a few concerns, the opening scene of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit suggests the couple have little worry about. If anything, they may be a bit bored. In search of something more distracting than another dry martini.
As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
Karen Henthorn’s Madame Arcati blows in through the Condomine’s front door at gale force. Volume turned up to high, and with a forthright Lancashire accent, she sets about stamping her authority on the preparations for an evening of psychic exploration.
It’s a refreshingly different interpretation. Margaret Rutherford has cast a long shadow over the role, and the medium’s default settings rarely stray far from the home counties and received pronunciation.
At first, Henthorn’s very funny Arcati seems an incongruous presence – a music hall act (her jabbing, full-throttle delivery and crowd-pleasing physicality can be traced back to the likes of Hylda Baker) creating havoc within the more waspish humour of a drawing-room comedy.
She prowls the room, sniffing for traces of poltergeists and “protoplasmic manifestations” – while the Condomines, and their other guests, look on with bemusement.
It should not work but it does, as Henthorn’s bravura performance makes space for itself within the performative elements of the medium’s craft – the heightened drama and tension embedded within the staging of a séance.
When Madame Arcati unexpectedly summons the ghost of Charles’ first wife, Elvira, into the household, things take a more farcical turn – and Henthorn is in her element.
She is not alone. Despite the play’s focus on ghostly apparitions, the production is built on reassuringly solid performances.
Peter Stone and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu are on especially strong form as the couple at the centre of the paranormal mayhem. Stone’s laid-back incorrigible flirt Charles revels in the competing attentions of his two wives. While, as Ruth, Ndlovu is increasingly animated as the reassuring certainties of her household, which she so calmly presided over, spiral out of control.
Ndlovu has a nicely understated way with comedy. As one of her guests, Laura Littlewood’s Mrs Bradman, honks her way atrociously through I Will Always Love You at the piano, Ruth’s face entertainingly flits between appalled astonishment and mock delight.
Coward does not make the afterlife sound very appealing. Kayleigh Hawkins’ Elvira complains about having had to fill in endless forms and hang around for ages in draughty passages to secure her “return visit”.
Hawkins dials up the clipped vocal mannerisms of the upper classes and makes it clear that the ‘welcome’ she has received, is not the one she feels she deserves. Wonderfully whiny and manipulative, she is trouble with a capital T.
At a performance still early in the run, there are a few teething problems with props – and I don’t just mean Henthorn’s battle to chew her way through the cucumber sandwiches while delivering lines. Most notably, a glass dashed dramatically to the floor in the closing moments, bounces across the set like a rubber ball. Minor issues, hopefully all easily sorted.
As a production, it wisely takes few liberties with the play or its setting, although there are some entertainingly idiosyncratic flourishes in the delivery.
Empty picture frames hang upon the Condomine’s walls, space perhaps for the unknown, and unseen – as Madame Arcati reminds her hosts, “there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of.”
Occasional musical interludes take unexpected turns, including the sound of a string quartet tackling the Ghostbusters theme tune.
Similarly, Zoey Barnes’ stylish costumes may not all exactly match the period in question but, amidst the set’s heavy brown furnishings, they bring welcome warmth, shimmer and sparkle – injecting a touch of glamour. Her wardrobe for Madame Arcati is more delightfully playful – with feather trims, a peacock balanced precariously on a headband, and even scarlet birds perched on either shoulder of a coat like avian epaulettes.
After the not insignificant impact she has had on the Manchester theatre scene in recent years, it is hard to believe that this is Hannah Ellis Ryan’s solo directorial debut – and it all feels confidently put together.
To a modern audience, the play might seem to slightly overextend itself, yet admirably Ellis Ryan doesn’t let the pace drop.
Her affection for Coward’s comedy is obvious, but the production takes enough risks to make it feel fresh as well as fun – a Blithe Spirit with the energy and enthusiasm to clear the clouds from any crystal ball.
Blithe Spirit runs at Hope Mill Theatre from 12 to 22 February 2025.
Then at The Dukes Lancaster from 25 February to 1 March 2025.
Performance seen on 13 February 2025.
Images by Lowri Burkinshaw.
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