Blithe Spirit a slick, spooky crowd-pleaser by Gisborne’s Evolution Theatre - Review

The cast of Blithe Spirit, by Gisborne's Evolution Theatre Company, are (from left) Jill White, Quentin Harvey, Elizabeth Raines, Russell McLeod, Phillippa Sherry and Rachel Crawford. The play is being performed at Evolution Theatre in Disraeli St.

It was good to see a full house last night at Evolution Theatre Company’s performance of Noel Coward’s classic period comedy, Blithe Spirit.

The story starts with Ruth (played by Paula Hattan) and Charles Condomine (Russell McLeod) preparing for guests at a seance held in their sitting room and conducted by clairvoyant Madame Arcati (Rachel Crawford).

With a bit of “woo-woo”, the dotty medium manages to contact Charles’ dead first wife Elvira (Phillippa Sherry) in the spirit world and bring her purring back into the room.

With her ghostly grey makeup and wig and a long sparkly gown, Sherry is convincingly otherworldly as she moves seductively around the stage, although only Charles can see her.

McLeod takes command of the stage as the novelist who is trying to “learn the tricks of the trade” to use in his new book, and gets a lot more than he bargained for.

Crawford gets plenty of laughs as she conjures the dead and falls into deep trances.

Jill White plays Violet Bradman, striking in a black wig and swanky attire, while her doctor husband George (Quentin Harvey) is very much a man of science and highly sceptical of anything supernatural.

Elizabeth Raines, as the navy-trained maid Edith, is either going full speed as she learned in the services, or comically sluggish after she is asked to slow down by the lady of the house.

The production is pacy and slick, but perhaps a bit on the long side, despite director Dinna Myers having cut pages from the script.

Myers worked with Dave Hall and Andrew Stevens on scenery design and special effects, which elevated the play. Slamming doors, spinning artworks and falling props add an element of surprise as the audience is taken on a journey of magic and mayhem.

There are impassioned conflicts and confessions of past infidelities as the plot evolves.

The costumes, hair and makeup, designed by Marie Murphy and Myers, with Jess Bain doing the hair, deserve mention and include some impressive wigs.

Written in just seven days, Blithe Spirit first came to the West End in 1941 and remains one of Coward’s most enduring comedies.

With only three performances to go, including Sunday afternoon’s finale, it’s guaranteed to be a memorable experience.

A dinner, a relationship on the rocks and a seance ... what could possibly go wrong?