By Nate Brown
The first impression given by the Highland City Community Center where the Highland City Arts Council is presenting Blithe Spirit, is that this isn’t your usual theater. There’s good reason – the community center isn’t a theater at all, but rather a multi-use building containing many functional rooms and a large space upstairs that is reminiscent of chapels I remember from summer camps in Colorado. As I approached the Community Center, therefore, I was hesitant. Would the stage be crammed into a corner? Would the chairs be so close together that I would have to hold my breath to squeeze through? Would the lighting be controlled by a single dimmer switch next to the double door entryway?
You can imagine the leap my heart did when I walked through the aforementioned entryway and viewed the professional lighting and sound surrounding a space transformed for theater in the round! My 14-year-old son and I promptly took our seats immediately adjacent to an old couch on the stage, and eagerly awaited director Angela Dell’s production.
Blithe Spirit begins at the height of Charles Condomine’s (Gilbert Burns) literary year while he is enjoying a second, less dramatic marriage to Ruth (Abby Smith). The couple invites a local psychic Madame Arcati (Cheryl Paskins) over to dinner with their neighbors Dr. and Mrs. Bradman (Craig Pickup and April Daw) in order to hold a seance, hoping to get material for a new book. With Edith (Alexis Grow), their excitable maid, keeping the evening running smoothly, and with the help of an unseen and unstable child spirit named Daphne (Darci Dell), the party accidentally summons the ghost of Charles’ first wife, Elvira (Hayley Lambdin). The resulting misunderstandings and awkward love triangle make Blithe Spirit a wonderfully hilarious experience.
Grow and Paskins are easily the most memorable characters of this production. Grow has a socially awkward demeanor and puppy-like eagerness that make her a pleasure to watch as she blushes and scurries across the stage. Paskins’ comedic use of her body and over the top dramatic flair often make her occultic arts seem like party games.
Burns is a pleasure to watch on stage as Mr. Condomine, and his character is loveable, relatable, and even blissfully loathsome at times. His voice carries well in the space, and his lines are never lost even in moments of extreme emotion.
The love triangle of Burns, Smith, and Lambd in is rife with tension and is believably nuanced. Smith is strict and occasionally severe in nature without being cold as she reacts to supernatural events and slowly accepts them. Burns and Smith build a loving and comfortable relationship that bends and strains appropriately under the burden of the fantastical events. Lambdin as the dead former wife is sultry and loving in her scenes, as though an invisible elastic band is constantly drawing her to her former husband. To say the relationship built by Burns and Lambdin between Charles and Elvira is complicated is perhaps an understatement, but to say much more about their delightful and sometimes dark interaction would give too much away.
Pickup’s stoic portrayal of Dr. Bradman and Daw’s enthusiastic rendering of his wife round out the edges of the cast. Pickup is the grounding straight man and skeptic of the group throughout, and while his character leans toward flat at times, his presence and authentically United Kingdom-esque manner always uplift the show. Daw’s eagerness brings a great deal of humor to the show, and she amusingly stands out as the everyman (or should I say “everymom?”) of the cast.
My one concern was in the dramatic range of emotion, the space swallows up the words amidst heightened voice inflection (it isn’t a theater and thus has no acoustics engineering). On several occasions, the audience took several extra beats to laugh as they slowly deciphered the dramatically inflected punchline.
The costumes by designer Heather Rogers and props by props master Jeff Dundas frame the play nicely. Sound by Ryan Hulet is impeccable, and lights by Emily Janae are very well done, despite clear challenges in the space.
It was unclear at the end of the show what elements of supernatural activity were directly the result of the efforts of Darci Dell and which were created by the stage hands Alayna Hansen, Mashaela Hansen, Indie Holdbrook, Harrison Holdbrook, Mady Hyde, and Ali Whiffen. Regardless, they were well done, enjoyable, and far more surprising than I anticipated. Bravo to all.
Highland City Arts Council’s presentation of Blithe Spirit is appropriate for all ages, but note that there are occultic themes, and some action and themes may be frightening for young children. It is a wonderful Halloween show that will give you enough laughs and thrills to get you to Thanksgiving.
Highland City Arts Council presents Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward
Highland City Community Center, 5378 W 10400 N, Highland, Utah, 84003
October 26-27, 29, November 2-3, 5, 7:00 PM
Tickets: $8 adults, $6 Seniors/Children 12 – 17, Families (up to 5 members) $25
Contact: 801-756-9614; highlandcitytheaterarts@gmail.com
Blithe Spirit Facebook event
Highland City Arts Council Facebook page
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