Regional

Blithe Spirit

 (South Coast Repertory, Mainstage, Costa Mesa; 507 seats; $36 top)

By CHRISTOPHER MEEKS

South Coast Repertory presents a comedy in three acts by Noel Coward. Director, William Ludel.
 
Charles - Nicholas Hormann
Ruth - Mary Layne
Madame Arcati - Jean Stapleton
Elvira - Nike Doukas
Dr. Bradman - John-David Keller
Mrs. Bradman - Mary Kay Wulf
Edith - Marnie Crossen

 

Fifty-three years since its original opening -- and hundreds of ghostly knock-offs since then -- Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit" remains powerfully funny. A top cast, great comic direction and rich production values help keep it in form.

Charles (Nicholas Hormann), a rich English novelist, and his second wife, Ruth (Mary Layne), have invited local psychic Madame Arcati (Jean Stapleton) over for a seance, with Charles using the opportunity to research his new novel.

Another skeptical couple (John-David Keller, Mary Kay Wulf) join them. Despite the couples' low expectations, Madame Arcati manages to bring back Charles' first wife, Elvira (Nike Doukas) -- but only Charles can see or hear her. Wit and misunderstanding fly.

Much of the fun occurs because this happens to a normally composed, assured, upper-class Brit who, as hilariously portrayed by Hormann, falls apart completely before blithely accepting his new reality as an "astral bigamist." He's a man who, as Ruth tells him, may always have been dominated by women, but that doesn't mean he knows anything about them.

Anyone who only remembers Stapleton as "dingbat" Edith on "All in the Family" will come away with a new appreciation for her. Her English accent and her delight in conjuring spirits -- with all its comic permutations -- show Stapleton as what she's always been: a deft comic actress.

As the wives, Layne and Doukas imbue their characters with the oh-so-proper, dry-martini attitudes of gentility that even death doesn't diminish. Marnie Crossen, as Edith the maid, brings much humor with her character's rush to please. As the other couple, Keller and Wulf make good comic foils.

Coward's famous wit permeates the play, and director William Ludel facilitates it well, adeptly toying with these people who, as one line says, are "shocked by honesty, not by deceit."

Cliff Faulkner's luscious set, a well-appointed living room, impresses. Books line one wall to the ceiling, a rich dark wood dominates, and the many floral touches help one imagine the room as part of a large country estate.

Doc Ballard's lighting makes use of night and day well. Ann Bruice's costume design offers a number of stunning creations and reinforces the attitude that all the creators lovingly operated at top form.

Sets, Cliff Faulkner; costumes, Ann Bruice; lighting, Doc Ballard; sound design, Garth Hemphill; dialect coach, Didley Knight. Producing artistic director, David Emmes; artistic director, Martin Benson. Opened April 7, 1995; reviewed April 23; runs through May 20. Running time, 2 hours, 45 min.