From left are Cameron McBride (Dr. George Bradman), Eric Kennedy (Charles Condomine), Eleanore Tapscott (Madame Arcati), Sarah Cusenza (Ruth Condomine), and Raeanna Nicole Larson (Mrs. Violet Bradman) in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blithe Spirit/Photo by Matt Liptak
The Little Theatre of Alexandria stages another welcome classic with Sir Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, a comedy that’s been around longer than most (b.1941) and there's a reason for its continual return to the world's stage: It's a treat and a (sky) lark (?)! A great escape!
Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1819: "Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!"
It was England and World War II when the bombs were dropping a'plenty, but its citizens needed a respite every now and then, like we all do (like now).
To the manor house, they go, some, from the “other side.”
Ruth (Sarah Cusenza) and Charles Condomine (Eric Kennedy) are hosting a dinner party in their elegant home with friends (who are real life husband and wife, Cameron McBride and Raeanna Nicole Larson) and a “medium” (Eleanore Tapscott).
Charles is a famous novelist and plans to milk medium Madame Arcati for any tips she can give him for a story he’s writing.
Things do not go as planned. Madame Arcati is anything but "medium."
Post dinner, she becomes a big scarlet macaw (whose colors Madame matches), sweeping around the room, landing momentarily at one spot or another before flying to her next perch with a wingspan of almost four feet, while the other adults in the room sit in amazement, mouths ajar.
Katie Weigl is Elvira in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blithe Spirit/Photo by Matt LiptakMadame conducts a séance and unwittingly summons the ghost of Charles’s first wife, Elvira (Katie Weigl), who died young, after only five years of marriage.
And here she comes, through windswept doors, the sassy Elvira, dressed all in grey, a long flowing gown with cape and face color to match.
Like all ghosts, she flits around the stage, rushing left to right and back again, throwing her hands in the air and seeking to disrupt Charles and Ruth’s marriage.
Charles is the only one who, initially, can see and hear Elvira, her teasing which begins to create havoc in the Condomines’ household.
Ruth can hear Charles speaking to Elvira and thinks his words are meant for her.
Charles to Elvira: "I could drink you under the table."
Ruth: "There's no need to be aggressive, Charles. I'm doing my best to help you."
A few minutes later, Charles tells Elvira to "shut up!"
Ruth: "How dare you speak to me like that!"
(Ms. Cusenza’s Ruth is splendid, talking to a wall or sofa or portrait on the wall, the piano, wherever she thinks Elvira sits or stands, not an easy task to perform with someone who is not there but is there. [Huh? You have to be there.])
Soon, there’s a murder and now there are two ghosts, each in ghostly grey apparel and caked in heavy grey makeup (which made me wince to think about removing it. Maureen Roult designed the hair and makeup).
Just what a man needs: Two wives screaming at him simultaneously after a brief interlude in a menage a trois ahead of chaos. (May I suggest to a producer that he or she exchange principal roles so the wife endures two ghostly husbands?)
The setting is absolutely divine, darling (by Julie Fischer), the parlor of a 1930s luxurious home where the servant, Edith (Caroline J. Berger) runs hither and yon or slows (per Ruth) to serve tea and refreshments to gents and ladies whom costumers Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley have dressed to the nines: the women in floor length silken gowns with gloves and fancy jewelry, the men in equal getup.
Which ghost “wins”? Come, blithe spirits, see and laugh at them.
The biggest “star” of the night was the superb acting by all the characters, no disappointments by nary a one. Hats off to director Ward Kay, assisted by Liz Isbell.
Other crew members are David Correia, sound; Ken and Patti Crowley, lighting; Maureen Dawson and Jennifer Rhorer, stage managers; Olivia Hinebaugh and Misty White, combat and intimacy directors; Meredith J. Ludwig, producer; Monique Morman, technical director; and Emilie Pade, properties.
I’ll have one of those cucumber sandwiches, if you please and thank you.
What: Blithe Spirit
When: Now thru Sept.19, 2026, Thursday – Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sunday matinees, 2 p.m.
Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe St., Alexandria, VA 22314
Admission: $30 (fee, included)
Duration: Almost three hours with one intermission
Audience: Mature teens on up
Language: A few “adult” words sprinkled here and there
Parking: Park for free on the streets or at the nearby Capital One Bank.
For more information: Box Office, 703-683-0496; boxoffice@thelittletheatre.com
patricialesli@gmail.com
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