Blithe Spirit

Ellerslie Theatrical Society presents the New Zealand Premiere of
BLITHE SPIRIT
an improbable farce by Noél Coward
directed by Rex Steele

17 to 26 March 2011

“A boisterous theatrical classic from the pen of an English wit. A séance that leads to the most unusual and unlikely ménage a trois in the history of the stage.”

Charles plans a séance as research for his new book. He invites the eccentric medium Madame Arcati into his English country home intending to expose her as a fraud. To witness this event, Charles and his second wife, Ruth, invite the sceptical Dr. Bradman and his anxious-to-believe wife, Violet. In the course of the séance things get thoroughly out of hand.

NOTES ON THE PLAYWRIGHT – Noél Coward
In 1941 Noél Coward escaped to Portmeirion, on the coast of Snowdonia in Wales, for a holiday with actress Joyce Carey after his London office and apartment had been destroyed in The Blitz. There he wrote Blithe Spirit straight through from beginning to end in five days. Only two lines of dialogue were removed before its first production in London.

During World War II, before Russia and the U.S. joined forces with the Allies, Great Britain was suffering severe casualties and facing German bombing attacks at home. Coward felt that British audiences would want to view an escapist comedy such as Blithe Spirit. The play provoked a small outcry at the time of its first performances, as it was seen to be possibly making fun of death at the height of the war; however, such objections were quickly forgotten, and the play went on to set British box-office records. The subject was timely for many, because people who wished to contact their loved ones who had died in the war were turning to spiritualism. The play's run of 1,997 consecutive performances set a record for non-musical plays in the West End that was not surpassed until the 1960s.

PERFORMANCE DATES
Thursday 9 to Saturday 11 June 2011 at 8pm
Sunday 12 Jun at 2pm
Tuesday 14 to Friday 17 at 8pm
Saturday 18 June at 2pm and 8pm

BOOKINGS
iTICKET – www.iticket.co.nz or phone 09 361 1000 (booking fee/delivery fee will apply)

TICKETS
Evening $20, $18 (discounted)
Matinee $15, $12 (discounted)

VENUE
Stables Theatre, Cnr Main Highway & Arthur St, Ellerslie, Auckland

ends

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