Review: BLITHE SPIRIT, Harold Pinter Theatre

Photo credit: Nobby Clark

We are always excited for another Noel Coward play in the West End but this one is an absolute powerhouse! Jennifer Saunders leads the charge in a phenomenal cast whose collective chemistry is a joy to watch. 

Written in six days, Blithe Spirit had its first run just five weeks after Coward finished it. The script is witty, thought-provoking, on the nose, and hilarious all at once, all the while making pertinent comments on death, society, and gender. It’s a ‘busy’ script and an even busier play physically, which is handled brilliantly by the cast. This is one of the most natural performances we have seen from an entire cast in a long time. 

The dynamic between married-couple Ruth and Charles, played by Lisa Dillon and Geoffrey Streatfeild kicks off the play with gumption. The pair’s energy is palpable, and they make us feel simultaneously welcomed into their home and like a fly on the wall tripping over the insecurities of their marriage. Their naturalistic performances are so relatable to anyone and everyone who’s been in a long-term relationship, or anyone who’s had their heart broken, that they are instantly likeable as we recognise our own struggles and flaws within them.

Madeleine Mantock’s West End debut is a triumph. Despite the play’s comic nature, it can’t be easy to convincingly play a spirit, even when the context feels tongue-in-cheek. But, thanks to Anthony Ward’s superb costume design, and Mantock’s ethereal physicality, it works. She’s a great foil to Lisa Dillon’s Ruth and, again, is strangely relatable. What would you do if you could return from the dead to haunt your husband and his new wife? No, we don’t know either. 

Turning our attention to comedy legend Jennifer Saunders, we feel privileged to have seen her live. It feels like the role of Madame Arcati is meant for her, even though the play was written in 1941. From her entrance, just off her bicycle and with sweat patches in all the wrong places, Saunders is captivating. Again, physicality is key and hers often has us in fits of giggles or exploding into laughter, and we weren’t the only ones! She bounces off her cast mates with a freshness that made it feel like they’d never performed the piece before and comes barrelling through the play with such mettle that it destroys the picture perfect faux-idealistic setting. Saunders’s natural talent for comedy has never been clearer than it is in a live setting and we hope she continues to take on stage roles so we can see her again! 

With a library to rival the Beast’s Enchanted Library in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (you know the one we’ve all aspired to owning someday), the set, though static, is beautiful. It is intricate and amazingly decorated by talented set & costume designer Anthony Ward. Use of music by sound designer John Leonard creates tension and joy, a drone building so slowly it often takes us by surprise when we find ourselves on the edge of our seats!

In such a farcical play, there is always the risk of insincerity but the lighting design and illusion work from Howard Harrison and Paul Kieve makes the whole thing entirely believable! I wonder if this was Coward’s intention, to turn us (alongside the characters) from cynics into open-mouthed believers.

For an evening of laughs with a magnitude of talent performing the work of a genius playwright, get yourselves down to the Harold Pinter Theatre until 6 November.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Eliza Harris

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