Fine Spirit First-Class Casting In Sophisticated Comedy, ‘Blithe Spirit,’ Rates High Applause

“Blithe Spirit,” through May 13 at Interplayers; call 455-PLAY

Noel Coward’s comedy “Blithe Spirit” is not exactly weighty, not exactly deep and not exactly profound. Never mind that. It also happens to be the most enjoyable production of the season at Interplayers.

“Blithe Spirit” is essentially a situation comedy, but the most sophisticated situation comedy imaginable. The characters are not stupid-funny, as they are in some sitcoms. The characters are smartfunny.

And even though this play does not seem to have a moral, or even to have a point, it actually has an important one: It is OK to laugh at death. Death, like life, can be outrageously humorous, and this theme is just as necessary and comforting today as it was during London’s Blitz, when Coward wrote the play.

This message is delivered with unflagging humor and quality in this production. Michael Weaver directs it with intelligence, with theatrical flair, and without a single false note.

The show’s success can be traced all the way back to the auditions, when the casting decisions were made. The casting makes this play special, beginning with Tony Mason as the main character Charles Condomine.

Mason is the quintessential Coward leading man. He may not have any of the gruffness of Rex Harrison, who played the part on film, but Mason brings a high-pitched British wit to the part. With his clipped mustache and clipped speech, he comes off as a cross between David Niven and Bertie Wooster (Jeeves’ young boss). He delivers all of Coward’s best lines with a dry, ironic, lift-of-the-eyebrow pointedness.

Rebecca Rothstein is every bit as good as Ruth, Charles’ second wife. Rothstein plays her as remarkably self-possessed, and more than a little sardonic. Their verbal duels are duels of equals.

The riskiest performance comes from Jennifer True as the ghost of the first wife, Elvira. She plays Elvira as a kind of Jayne Mansfield sex kitten, constantly curling up on sofas, giggling and revealing long expanses of thigh. I half-expected her to purr. Her performance lent a delightful edge of surprise to a part that might well have been done as standardissue ghost.

Annmarie Hehir did fabulous things with her small part as Edith the maid. The recurring gag is that Edith wants to do everything at double-speed (an interesting antistereotype for the British upper classes to chew on). Hehir has a tremendous flair for physical comedy - she resembles a colt galumphing through the house. And she also shows so much acting skill that she forces us to regard her character as a person, instead of playwright’s gag.

Bruce Arnold and Carey Chilton Charyk were right on the money as Dr. and Mrs. Bradman. They portrayed them as good, solid burghers, uncomfortable with anything too … eccentric. Thus they were the ideal foils for the outrageously out-there Madame Arcati.

Madame Arcati is the spiritual medium who conjures Elvira out of the spirit world. Pat Sibley nearly steals the show with her hysterical portrayal of this eccentric soul. Imagine Ruth Buzzi dressed in flowing scarves, and you might get the idea. Sibley plays Madame Arcati almost as if she were a loud, hearty, fox-hunting aunt, although one who occasionally goes into antic, wacky trances.

One of the best moments of the show comes when Sibley wanders about the stage, cooing to her ghost, unaware that the ghost is now in a different part of the room, sneering at her.

Director Weaver deserves praise not only for his ideas and interpretation, but also for a more technical achievement. He does an uncommonly good job of moving the characters fluidly around this thrust stage, using every bit of it, giving the play the feeling of action and incident.

Movement is a constant challenge on the Interplayers stage, surrounded by audience on three sides, and it usually goes unnoticed except when done poorly. This time, I noticed it only when I looked back and realized that “Blithe Spirit” never once seemed talky or static.