In 1911, celebrated medium Anna Eva Fay held a public séance at the London Coliseum, inviting audience members to ask questions that she would answer by channelling the dead. In the audience was Violet Coward whose eleven-year-old son, Noël had just begun his professional stage career.
Violet asked the medium if she had made the right choice putting Noël on the stage. According to Fay, and those in the afterlife, the answer was: “Keep him where he is! He is a great talent and will have a wonderful career!”
The message, or lucky guess, proved accurate and Noël Coward became an acclaimed playwright, actor and entertainer. One of his most successful and enduring plays is Blithe Spirit which The Algarveans Theatre group is performing in Lagoa’s Humorfest in March. Written in just six days, this “light comedy about death”, as Coward described it, premiered at the Piccadilly Theatre in 1941 when Britain faced desperate times during World War II.
In Blithe Spirit, writer Charles Condomine is haunted both figuratively and literally by the ghost of his first wife Elvira, summoned during a séance by an eccentric medium. Mayhem ensues as she attempts to disrupt Charles’ marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who can neither see nor hear the ghost. The action is driven by the acerbic wit and barbed banter that are the trademarks of Coward’s humour.
Seasoned actor and director Frank Remiatte, directing the production for The Algarveans, is keen to retain the comedy’s period look: “That’s part of the play’s charm,” he says, “together with our fascination with life-after-death, a well-plotted farce and Coward’s impeccable dialogue.”
Blithe Spirit is playing at the Carlos do Carmo Auditorium, Lagoa on March 13, 14 and 15 at 7:30 pm.
Tickets at €15 are available from BOL.PT, or in person at Auditório Carlos do Carmo, Convento de S. José in Lagoa and at Município de Lagoa - Balcão Único.
Tickets are also available at Worten and FNAC shops, or from their online websites.
