Red Curtain Foundation’s revival of the rippingly witty British farce “Blithe Spirit” is cleverness incarnate.
The Red Curtain cast brings legendary playwright Noel Coward’s script to life with the battle of the sexes at the heart of this story.
Just hearing the droll and oh-so-sardonic dialogue made me want to rise out of my seat again and again to simply applaud Coward’s brilliant mastery of the sentence.
Coward could slay with a carefully placed adjective.
And overall, the cast did a splendid job of presenting Coward’s words with spot-on comic timing.
Community theater favorite Asa Sholdez cut the perfect figure of the swaggering and cantankerous Charles Condomine. Under the direction of Daniel Guttenberg, Sholdez really appeared to be having a ball – crystal? — with the role and his joy on stage was infectious.
Charles is a successful author in this story who finds himself caught between two wives – one’s a ghost and the other is quite real.
The back and forths between Charles and his current wife Ruth, played solidly by Suzanne Soule, conjure many a pitfall that can blight a marriage and make certain moments not so blithe.
Take this exchange, for instance, between Ruth and Charles:
“Was she more physically attractive than I am?”/ “That’s a very tiresome question my dear and fully deserves a wrong answer.”
The real cracks in this union get deeper after the unruly and morally challenged Elvira, Charles’ first wife, is brought back from the dead after a seance. Elvira was devilishly played by Jennifer Ropella.
The seance was conducted by Madame Arcati. Erica Neils made the most of this role as the story’s medium, producing more of an eccentric than zany character, which in the world of ectoplasm, gelled just fine.
The remaining Red Curtain cast was Megan Elizabeth Wescott as Edith, Timothy Kelly as
Dr. Bradman and Courtney Calkins as Mrs. Bradman.
This is the last weekend to capture “Blithe Spirit” before the show vanishes.
Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Historic Everett Theatre, 2911 Colby Ave., Everett. Tickets are $15 and $12. Call 425- 258-6766 or go to The Historic Everett Theatre or get them at the door .
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