Blithe Spirit is a comic play by Noël Coward, who described it as “an improbable farce in three acts.” The play is now running at the Seattle Rep from Nov. 29 to Dec. 22, 2024. The tickets range from $20 to $106. Accommodating people from students to workers, Teentix is also a great platform for teenagers to get tickets to Seattle Rep plays for $5.
Characters of the play involved Edith, played by Sophie Kelly-Hederick, Ruth, played by Gin Hammond, Charles, played by Arlando Smith, Dr. Bradman, played by Nate Tenenbaum, Mrs. Bradman, played by Sara Waisanen, Madame Arcati, played by Anne Allgood, and Elvira, played by Kirsten Potter.
The play opened with a gorgeous green set and Ruth setting the scene of a perfect household with a not so perfect housemaid, Edith, who added a major comical element to the play. The story continues in this seemingly normal household with the husband and wife but chaos comes upon them the second Madame Arcati steps foot in the house, and suddenly you’re left wondering what’s funnier: Madame Arcati’s dance,Mrs. Bradman’s laugh, or the play itself.
Seattle Rep has done a wonderful job with the casting, each actor perfectly fit their roles which added an extra spark to the play. In costumes, the actors embodied the characters and made the audience feel like they were watching a live sit-com with fun, unexpected twists.
Kirsten Potter did a fantabulous job as Elvira. She was goofy, fun, funny and even scary at times, she brought on major excitement to the production. After Elvira enters the funny play gets funnier and adds elements of thrill and mystery.
The Devil is in the details, one thing this play certainly abides by, be it the details of the obvious jealousy and competition that Ruth and Elvira share, or the fact that Elvira was trying to kill Charles and not the others who ended up getting injured. Both the play and the audience paying attention to these minute details help in unraveling this ravishing mystery.
A major comical highlight was when Edith, played by Sophie Kelly-Hederick, was arranging the cutlery for breakfast. As she very meticulously tried placing the spoons and forks in the correct position but her confusion enriched the scene more and with her every decision the audience burst out laughing. Eventually, she gave up and placed everything in gibberish order.
Moving on to the sets, they were beautiful and very well done. Each set piece was well thought of and the highlight was when the ghost was trying to scare Ruth, and the normal, perfect-looking house then became a scary puppet in the hands of its original master.
The costumes were truly well done and perfectly matched the character and the set but still managed to stand out, it gelled with both the aesthetic and the era. Getting back to the details, another thing to be noticed is the fact that every character had a costume color of their own to help the audience differentiate better.
The second half of the play picks up in pace and humor in addition to a variety of new costumes and eerie changes to existing set pieces.
The play is extremely hilarious, the only critique, if any, would be that the pace of the first half of the play needs to pick up slightly. However, the second act was paced perfectly and engaged the audience more and more as the scenes went by.
The production was very well done and is a must-watch for every thriller-comedy theater lover out there. This well-written play has elements of fun, humor, mystery, thrill and even horror and Seattle Rep has done an exceptional job in bringing this Noël Coward classic to life.
Author
Vrindha, an international student from India, is fueled by her fervent love for diverse art forms such as dance, drama, music and theatre. Eager to immerse herself in new experiences and broaden her horizons, she sees her involvement with the Collegian as a gateway to both sharing her passions and delving into new realms of knowledge.
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