Blithe Spirit

By: Noel Coward

Director: Jim McNabb

Genre: Comedy

Running: Sept. 15 – Oct. 3, 2015

Matinee: Sept. 27

The brilliant Sir Noel’s funniest and most farcical comedy! After a séance goes awry, the spirit of Charles Condomine’s first wife Elvira returns to haunt him with designs on reclaiming her husband – much to the chagrin of his new wife. If he wants his latest marriage to stand a ghost of a chance, Charles had better conjure up a solution quickly!

Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, well known for his wit and flamboyance in any form of expression that he set his mind to. Coward was born December 16^th, 1899, in the town of Teddington, London. Coward’s upbringing was far from amiable, but with the encouragement of his mother, he discovered the seeds of his romance with theatre at the young age of seven. In the years that followed, Coward’s acting career flourished and he soon turned his focus to playwriting. At the ripe age of 20, Coward starred in his own play, the light comedy I’ll Leave It to You. The newspaper, The Observer, commented, “Mr Coward… has a sense of comedy, and if he can overcome a tendency to smartness, he will probably produce a good play one of these days.” Coward, never one to back down from criticism or acclaim, pursued his ardour and soon brought to fruition his skills, fortune and fame with his breakout play Hay Fever. The vast career that followed brought about Coward contributing his talents to entertainment during the great depression and aiding the Allies in World War II with songs and films to invigorate the souls of the soldiers and the people. One may attempt to measure Coward’s impact and influence upon the world with such works of notoriety as: Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit. However, Sir Noël Peirce Coward’s legacy is one that stretches further than witty writing. The hope and voice he brought through his work to people in their time of need is what built the true pith of legacy.