Blithe Spirit
By Noël Coward
Directed by Hector Correa
July 23 through August 21, 2010
And Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Charles Condo mine, a successful novelist, wishes to learn about the occult for a novel he is writing, and he arranges for an eccentric medium, Madame Arcati, to hold a séance at his house. At the séance, she inadvertently summons Charles's first wife, Elvira, who has been dead for seven years.
Madame Arcati leaves after the séance, unaware that she has summoned Elvira. Only Charles can see or hear Elvira, and his second wife, Ruth, does not believe that Elvira exists until a floating vase is handed to her out of thin air.
The ghostly Elvira makes continued, and increasingly desperate, efforts to disrupt Charles's current marriage. She finally sabotages his car in the hope of killing him so that he will join her in the spirit world, but it is Ruth rather than Charles who drives off and is killed.
The title of the play is taken from Shelley's poem "To a Skylark". After his London office and apartment had been destroyed in The Blitz, Coward wrote Blithe Spirit in 1941 during a holiday that he took with actress Joyce Carey to Portmeirion on the coast of Snowdonia in Wales. He wrote it straight through from beginning to end while staying at the Fountain 2 (Upper Fountain) suite at Portmeirion and only two lines of dialogue were removed before its first production in London. In his autobiography Coward claimed he wrote the play in five days.
The Performers
| Edith, the maid | Jody Christian |
| Charles Condomine | Stanley Spenger |
| Ruth Condomine | Shannon Veon Kase |
| Dr. George Bradman | John F. Hurst |
| Violet Bradman | Jeanette Sarmiento |
| Madame Arcati | Chris Macomber |
| Elvira Condomine | Erin J. Hoffman |
Production
| Director | Hector Correa |
| Producer | Jerome Solberg |
| Stage Manager | Jose Garcia |
| Costume Designer | Helen Slomowitz |
| Set Designer | Rose Anne Raphael |
| Lighting Designer | Alecks Rundell |
| Light Board Operator | Morgan Brown |
| Light Board Operator | Lizette Greijbe |
| Sound Operator | Nayla El-Haber |
| Sound Operator | Catalina Macdonald |
| Graphics / Poster | Shu Ping |
| Press & Lobby Photos | Tiffany Boswell |
Press Photo Downloads
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| Rose Anne Raphael, Set Designer Download High Resolution Version |
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Erin J. Hoffman (left) and Stanley Spenger (right) Download High Resolution Version Photo by Tiffany Boswell |
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Shannon Veon Kase (left) and Chris Macomber (right) Download High Resolution Version Photo by Tiffany Boswell |
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Ensemble Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, directed by Hector Correa will be performed July 23 through August 21, 2010. Friday and Saturday at 8pm, plus an additional performance Thursday, August 19th, 2010 All performances begin at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $15 or $12 for seniors and students (with ID). |
 Download larger photo |
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Jody Christian As Edith, the maid
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Stanley Spenger As Charles Condomine |
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Shannon Veon Kase As Ruth Condomine |
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John F. Hurst
As Dr. George Bradman |
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Jeanette Sarmiento As Violet Bradman |
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Chris Macomber
As Madame Arcati |
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Erin Hoffman As Elvira Condomine |
- Description:
Erin J. Hoffman and Stanley Spenger (L to R)
- Description:
Rose Anne Raphael, Set Designer
Additional Downloads
| Play Program | Download PDF |
| Play Poster | Download PDF |
| Play Press Release | Download PDF |
| Directors Comments Video | Link to You Tube |
| Play Postcard | Download PDF |
