Far-fetched, but believable

This time last week we had just arrived home from the local village of Bleadon, where we had very much enjoyed the Bleadon Players performing their latest production, ‘ Blithe Spirit’, a comedy by Nöel Coward. It was first performed in 1941 and was later made as a film. It must have had countless professional and amateur productions over the years and now of course, more than eighty years after its first performance, it is still entertaining audiences.

It is a fairly simple story, but it is the characters and their complex and changing relationships which make it still popular – and yes far-fetched, but believable in the way the seven characters relate and behave. Charles and his second wife Ruth are entertaining friends to dinner, and as ‘entertainment’ they have invited an eccentric medium, Madam Arcati  to join them. Charles is a writer and is writing a supernatural novel and is using this for research for his latest novel. It’s a well-known play anyway, but even if it wasn’t, I think most audiences would guess that the ghostly Elvira, the first wife, appears. There are various amusing incidents, and Charles’s dilemma becomes more complicated when a disaster occurs.

The Bleadon Players put on a splendid performance, and we thoroughly enjoyed it – as did the rest of the audience and there was enthusiastic applause at the end for the actors and crew. I wouldn’t exactly say I had any criticism, certainly not of the players or production, but there were aspects of the play itself which – to me, did show its age. These days our entertainment through TV, film, video and internet, is not as wordy – and maybe audiences are different and don’t need extended dialogue and explanation… or maybe our attention-span is just much poorer!

It was a great show, the applause was thunderous, the audience somewhat breathless with laughter – and no doubt the Players were thinking “Phew, only one more night to go!” I’ guessing that after the final performance, and after the traditional party, their thoughts turned to the next performance in September: