BLITHE SPIRIT

Bridport Arts Centre

COMEDY is a lot more difficult to perform than many people realise and Noel Coward’s witty dialogue can be an additional challenge but Bridport’s Encore Theatre Club members manage the whole thing in suitably restrained style.

When you invite a local medium to dinner to perform a séance with friends, you don’t expect your deceased wife Elvira to turn up to spoil the fun but that is only the start of the turmoil that follows.

Pretty soon, old issues arise as Charles and Elvira relive the past in a strange ménage a trois where everyone loses the plot, thanks to the excellent Louisa Hardy as the ghostly Elvira.

The cracking cast is headed by a resolutely amusing Sandra Brown who brings to her role an energy and grace as the psychic Madame Arcati as she stirs up the spirits in the home of Charles, played with suitably stiff upper lip seriousness by John Pownall in contrast to his current wife Ruth, played by Thea Martin who lets rip at every opportunity.

Jacqui Wood’s direction keeps the lid on quite a bit of the comic dialogue that creates a civilised middle-class atmosphere which makes the play a pleasant change from some of the more raucous productions of the work.

Neat touches of comedy come through with the frisky maid, Rebecca Hilton among the nicely judged cast that also includes Declan Duffy and Melanie Draper as the bewildered dinner guests.

An ingeniously constructed set adds to the comedy in a production that continues for the rest of the week.

MARION COX