Sir Noel Pierce Coward, or at least his work, seems almost as fresh (in every sense of the word) now, as then. As sophisticated. Suave. Flamboyant. Noone wrote, or writes, with quite the same self-assured panache. If ever there was a compelling argument for Anglophilia, he's it. He wrote Blithe Spirit in five days flat, on holiday in a hotel suite in coastal Wales, in 1941, after his London office and apartment had been Blitzed. Bearing in mind Russia and the US were yet to join the Allies, Coward surmised an escapist comedy would be just the ticket for British morale. It's subject matter proved of some delicacy, given wartime losses, but it didn't take long for its audience to get into, well, the spirit of things, even if they weren't quite blithe about it.
In characteristic style, Coward's answer to an arsenal of bombs, was a cache of sharply comedic characters. Yet through its farce, Coward goes well beyond thumbing his nose at the grim reaper, in an extension of a ghostly tradition onstage reaching right back to the Greeks. He delves into an examination of the boundaries, hypocrisies and difficulties of love and marriage, in a deeply meaningful way. To reveal both these levels is no mean feat, but neither is it insurmountable.
Here we have the spectre of socialite and novelist Charles Condomine inviting the, shall we say, colourful Madame Arcati to his house, to preside over a seance. All in the interests of research for his next book, you understand. But all hell breaks loose when his demanding first wife, Elvira, resurfaces, making a beeline for his second belle, Ruth. Confusion reigns as Elvira, determined to inveigle him into the hereafter, is only apparent to Charles. The thick, of course, plottens somewhat.
It's become one of the best-loved English-language comedies and it's not hard to see why.
Charles: Anything interesting in The Times?
Ruth: Don't be silly, dear!
However, I was unable to love NTT's production as much as I might've. This, because it got off to a slow and frustrating start, not finding its rhythm till the second act: surprising and not readily excusable, since this was the fifth performance. The Illawarra Performing Arts Centre's Gordon Theatre is a fine one and deserved a better showing. The saving grace of the whole evening was Samantha O'Hare, as Elvira, who lent the production its momentum, energy and sass, through some inexplicable feat of constructive contagion: the rest of the cast seem to move with her, lifting their game to match, coming nearer to the kind of fleetfooted pithiness for which Coward is renowned and in which the enjoyment of his work resides. Had they all been as good, this would've been a fine, even memorable, night in the theatre; but alas.
Coward wrote with a cadence all his own and even the most elementary reading of his work must discern this to have any success with his words. Yet director, Carol Dicker, on the evidence, either failed to hear these rhythms or didn't managed to instil such in her actors. It's a shame, as it almost ruined the play.
While set and lighting were passable, regrettably the same applied, too much of the time, to performances. David Tucker's Charles ad Nicole Beaver's Ruth fell into this category: again, they didn't find any convincing vigour until O'Hare hit the stage; almost too late. While Adam Ryder's Dr Bradman made a good fist of the severe Scot, Nadine Hulme's Violet (Mrs Bradman) was, frankly, appallingly amateurish, with no attempt made at a British accent till after interval: weird; midstream was no time to act on notes. Leanne Cooper's role, as servant Emily, is a comedic gift, yet was played rather awkwardly. Marnie Engel's Madame Arcati was closer to the mark, but not thoroughly realised.
Given the unevenness, I'm liable to lay the blame at the feet of the director, and this cast seemed, on the whole, to have the capability and competence, but not the confidence or belief; I know not why. Perhaps familiarity with the demeanour and calibre of Coward's work was the issue.
It is relatively rare I have to report such disappointment in a production and I take no pleasure in doing so. It is, indeed, a shame, as Coward himself rated this as his best work and it has passed the test of time so brilliantly it won a Tony. In 2009! Therefore, not to realise the opportunity to animate his superbly-drawn characters once more is almost a crime against theatre. With high-profile patrons, such as Michael Caton, standing squarely behind this western Sydney company, as well as a string of previous successes, NTT owes itself better. Much better. Coward's wit is veritably microsurgical and requires similar precision of its practitioners. It's too easy to write off a play like Blithe Spirit as purely whimsical and fall well-short, as has happened here.
In the acerbic manner of the man himself: 'I don't believe in astrology; the only stars I can blame for failures are those that walk about the stage'. And these characters are hardly fall into the category of dramatic rocket surgery: 'Just say the lines and don't trip over the furniture'. The pity of it is imagination was all that was required to turn travesty into triumph.
The final word, though, not to Coward, but another playwright, John Osborne, on that very subject. 'Mr Coward is his own invention and contribution to this century. Anyone who cannot see that should keep well away from the theatre.'
I fear this production will haunt me for all the wrong reasons.
NTT Productions presents
Blithe Spirit
by Noel Coward
Parramatta
Venue: Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatres
Dates: Friday 7 and Saturday 8 May at 8pm plus Saturday 8 May matinee at 2pm
Bookings: 8839 3399 | www.riversideparramatta.com.au
Wollongong
Venue: Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, 32 Burrell St
Dates: Friday 14 and Saturday 15 May at 8pm plus Saturday 15 May matinee at 2pm
Bookings: 4224 5999 | www.ipac.org.au
