Nöel Coward’s most beloved comedy will return to the London stage in a new critically acclaimed production directed by Sir Richard Eyre. Scheduled to open next March at the Duke of York’s Theatre, the show will enjoy a short UK tour which will include Bath, Cambridge and Norwich, among other cities. The cast also includes Geoffrey Streatfeild, Lisa Dillon, Emma Naomi, Simon Coates, Lucy Robinson and Rose Wardlaw.
They say that the best works are those that become immortal. Maybe it’s due to its unaging comedy, maybe it’s because ghosts can’t die – what’s sure here is that Nöel Coward’s classic Blithe Spirit will be coming back to the London stage next year. Directed by Sir Richard Eyre, this critically acclaimed production will stay at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited 6-week run, which will be preceded by an UK tour from January to February.
First performed last June at Theatre Royal Bath as part of its summer season, this new take on Coward’s 1941 work has also been widely praised by its audience – playing to full houses during its original run. The tour, wich will star at the Theatre Royal Brighton, will count again on internationally awarded actress and comedian Jennifer Saunders for the role of Madame Arcati. Playing an eccentric medium who’s called to the house to conduct a séance, Saunders will be joined by Geoffrey Streatfeild, Lisa Dillon, Emma Naomi, Simon Coates, Lucy Robinson and Rose Wardlaw.
A record-breaker on its first runs both on Broadway and in the West End, Blithe Spirit remains as one of Coward’s most popular pieces, which proved a sucessful distraction at the height of World War II, when it was originally staged. Through wit, farce and even tragedy, this carefully crafted comedy tells the story of novelist Charles Condomine, whose relationship with his second wife becomes literally haunted when a peculiar medium inadvertently conjures up the ghost of his first spouse during a séance gathering. Life (and also the afterlife) are about to get complicated…
Blithe Spirit will play in Brighton from January 22nd to 25th, followed by Malvern (January 27th to February 1st), Bath (February 4th to 8th), Cambridge (February 10th to 15th), Richmond (February 17th to 22nd) and Norwich (February 24th to 29th). The West End run will begin performances on March 5th and will close on April 11th. Tickets for the London run are already available at the following link.
First Night Magazine 