Nobody writes marital spats better than Noel Coward. A typical Cowardian dust-up begins with the spouses sounding friendly and respectful. Then someone slips a criticism into the cheerful banter. The victim objects, defends him or herself, and finally parries with a cutting word that's supposed to keep things balanced. But it doesn't: it just makes the original accuser more enraged, and the conversation quickly becomes a vituperative fencing match, with both sides angrily denouncing each other, and demonstrating that life with the other has always been impossible.
Fortunately, Coward is too canny to let matters rest there, and it's not long before the lovers are cooing at — or at least speaking civilly to — each other once again. Are they any less in love? Not a bit. Will they tangle again? You can be sure of it. Coward's couples are comically, disturbingly ambivalent. They care deeply and honestly, but cross them at your own peril.
And then there's Charles Condomine, the hero, if the word may be used, of Coward's classic Blithe Spirit, which is currently receiving a likable, intermittently successful production at American Stage. Condomine's problem is not one but two wives, one of whom has recently returned from the dead. If it's difficult always keeping a pleasant tone with living wife Ruth, it's particularly problematical with ghostly Elvira, who's happy to be walking the earth once again, and has no sympathy at all for now-beleaguered Charles. Things are made all the worse by the fact that Ruth can't see or hear Elvira, and repeatedly supposes that when Charles is fulminating at his ectoplasmic first wife, he's really aiming his barbs at his second.
So Blithe Spirit gives Coward extra dimensions with which to work: There's not only Charles versus Ruth, but also Charles v. Elvira, and, for that matter, Ruth v. Elvira. Add the dotty medium Madame Arcati, who's more or less responsible for Elvira's materialization, and there's more than enough here to keep us laughing and wondering how equilibrium will ever be regained. Can these relationships be saved?
The answer is original enough, and not at all what you'd expect, so the good news is, this is a play worth knowing. The semi-bad news is the American Stage version is only partly effective. The trouble is that the acting ensemble, as directed by Dan Lombardo, too seldom finds that rhythmic, almost musical speed that makes the best Coward plays so winning.
The most successful Coward comedies move quickly, with a tautness and forward motion that pauses only so long as to let the audience laugh — and then we're off again, at the same rapid clip. The American Stage version reaches this momentum from time to time, but then relaxes into a sort of realism before speeding up again. This is particularly the case in the scenes with Madame Arcati — whom Lesley Staples plays dottily enough, but without much concern for pacing or ensemble acting. The other main problem is that Wayne LeGette, while a competent actor, doesn't have much apparent dimension as Charles Condomine — and since Charles is so central to virtually every scene, this absence really matters.
Fortunately, both of Charles' wives — Geneva Rae as Ruth and Laura Hodos as Elvira — have the wonderful ability to seem complex at first glance, and Matt Lunsford and Becca McCoy are also delightful as the Bradmans. But as the housemaid Edith, Millie Anne Shipe is never very convincing, and therefore some key moments near the play's end don't entirely make sense.
Happily, there's nothing half-done about the design, which includes Scott Cooper's beautiful Condomine living room and Frank Chavez's period costumes, the most outrageous of which are worn by eccentric Arcati. There are also some very persuasive special effects, which prove once again that it's not just the screen that can give audiences a good haunting.
Coward's best plays, including this excursion into the supernatural, are among the glories of the modern English stage, and it's a delight to see Blithe Spirit finally get a hearing in the Tampa Bay area. If the American Stage production isn't as thrilling as it might be, still it's very good and well worth the attention of theater lovers. Next, let's see Hay Fever or Design for Living or Present Laughter. Life's too short to include a Coward comedy only every five years. There's a lot to love about these literate, ingenious plays — and that's a love unmixed with anything baser.
This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2010.