Blithe Spitit			Download the programme.
Reason to stay indoors
There'll never be a better reason for spending a summer's evening indoors than Grasmere Players' gloriously stylish interpretation of the Noel Coward evergreen Blithe Spirit, which continues to run on June 26 and July 3/5/10 at the Grasmere Village Hall.
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		Surprisingly this was the play's first airing at Grasmere 61 years after its premiere; yet under Margaret Hughes's careful direction, Coward's comic study of Englishness in 1930s society withstands the test of time. His inventive plot brings suave novelist Charles Condamine (played comfortable and confidently by Richard Baker) face to face with the spirit of his dead wife Elvira, amid much table tapping and the psychic powers of the arcane and delightfully batty Madam Arcarti, played to perfection by Vivienne Reese.
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The séance is conducted as a dinner party entertainment to provide Charles with material for his latest novel, but leaves him with a problem - the ghost of his first wife which neither his present wife, Ruth, nor their guests Dr and Mrs. Bradman, (Elaine Nelson and Nigel Crook strong in support) can see.
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		The languidly louche and elegant Elvira sparkles with wickedness, thanks to Lucy Wisse in a performance that would have delighted the Master himself. Released from 'the other side', Elvira's shapely swathed in grey satin swirls in with the breeze, and proceeds to dominate the stage, wreaking mischief on the outwardly smooth lives of Charles and Ruth, and exposing their flaky marriage.
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Alison Bailey as Ruth Condamine gives a well-paced performance of cutting sarcasm and nicely measured venom and, after a slow start, the play sparked into life as the two wives clashed through the hapless Charles. Grasmere's Blithe Spirit is like strawberries and cream: a seasonal delight, luscious, juicy, with just a hint of sharpness - perfect for a summer's evening.
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JR The Westmorland Gazette, June 28th 2002.