Reviews 2007
Reviews 2007
✭✭✭✩✩
by Noel Coward, directed by Morris Panych
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
November 10-December 15, 2007
The odd thing about Soulpepper’s new production of Noel Coward’s popular comedy Blithe Spirit is that a blithe spirit is exactly what it is lacking. Under director Morris Panych’s pedestrian direction and situated on Ken MacDonald’s huge, gloomy set, the production has none of the lightness or sense of effortless precision that makes Coward’s comedies work.
The 1941 play is Coward at his frothiest and wittiest. The novelist Charles Condomine (Joseph Ziegler) has married Ruth (Fiona Reid) after his first wife’s death. To research a novel, he invites the medium Madame Arcati (Nancy Palk) hold a séance with the unwelcome result that his first wife Elvira (Brenda Robins) materializes with plans to break up his marriage. The work’s frivolous attitude toward death was considered scandalous at the time, but as we know humour is a means of coping with unpleasant realities. What gives the world of the comedy its depth is that it is literally invaded by the empire of death that metaphorically surrounds it.
The prime source of humour is how the otherwise flippant Charles must confront a reality that makes him appear mad to others. Under Panych’s direction Ziegler makes heavy weather of the central role, playing Charles more as if her were Scrooge confronting his four ghosts than a wealthy man of leisure facing his deceased but still seductive first wife. In contrast, Reid's performance is a constant joy. She has Ruth’s acidic primness down perfectly and outshines everyone in nuance and comic timing. Robins is a very appealing Elvira. She emphasizes the spirit’s longing for Charles and her calculated allure while avoiding the impishness some actors unwisely cultivate. Palk is an unusual choice for Madame Arcati, a role written for Margaret Rutherford and usually played by elderly portly actress. All the humour regarding Arcati’s unusual vigour goes missing with a slim actress younger than Charles or Ruth. Nevertheless, Palk makes Arcati a very believable eccentric along the lines of an athletic ESP geek. A mostly silent Melody A. Johnson makes the most of the physical humour of the Condomine’s maid Edith.
Anyone who has never seen the play before will likely find the Soulpepper production enjoyable enough since Coward’s clever symmetrical plot and acerbic dialogue are so strong. Anyone, however, who remembers Stratford’s Blithe Spirit in 1982 or the Shaw’s production in 1993 will know that a lighter touch and greater precision can make lose your breath laughing.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2007-11-14.
Photo: Joseph Ziegler and Fiona Reid . ©Cylla von Tiedemann.
2007-11-14
Blithe Spirit