Canberra REP | Review by Grace Cassidy
REP’s Blithe Spirit is Spectacularly Absurd
8 May 2025
Canberra REP’s 2025 production of Blithe Spirit opens with a warmly-lit living room, cluttered with antique furniture, Persian rugs, and a mirror that wobbles ominously above the fireplace, a subtle indication that something strange is afoot.
As audience members trickle in, French doors slide open and a young maid trots into the room. Edith (played charmingly by Liv Boddington) spends a few minutes delicately dusting bookshelves until the lights dim. Then, after furtively checking she’s alone, Edith sidles over to the record player, cheekily pours herself a drink and starts blasting music.
She’s rudely interrupted by the arrival of her employers, Ruth (Alex McPherson) and Charles Condomine (Peter Holland), who are anticipating the arrival of several dinner party guests, including the renowned medium Madame Arcati (Elaine Noon), who has promised to conduct a séance. Charles is an author and he’s hoping to use Madame Arcati as inspiration for his next novel. Unbeknownst to the Condomines, they’re about to get a lot more than they bargained for.
Blithe Spirit is a farce that explores the fallout of a séance that accidentally summons the spirit of Charles’s fatuous and capricious wife Elvira (Winsome Ogilvie), who passed seven years ago (“passed” not “dead” – Elvira declares that “dead” is a vulgar term where she comes from). Lachlan Houen’s take on Noël Coward’s classic farce attempts to breathe new life into an old story – in some parts it succeeds. In others, it struggles.
While the play eventually spirals into hilarious, supernatural disaster, its first act is packed with lengthy, dialogue-heavy scenes meant to establish character dynamics and backstory. While these moments can be delightfully witty and dry, they generally lack compelling stakes, and without strong comedic elements, they tend to lag and drift into tedium. Houen is not the first director to discover that the first half of Blithe Spirit can be difficult to adapt (a 2022 production by Sydney Theatre Company reportedly suffered from similar pacing issues). The show is at its best when slapstick and Edith’s bizarre antics are used to uplift the more monotonous scenes — a moment where Edith inexplicably walks past with an axe garners howls of laughter from the audience.
The pacing issues are also exacerbated by the set pieces being spaced too far apart. With the living room positioned on the far left of the stage and the dining table on the far right, there’s a strange void in the middle and much of the action is pulled to the far corners of the stage, resulting in partially obstructed views for those audience members who aren’t lucky enough to have central seats. This choice may have been made for the sake of the actors, who have to chase each other around the furniture on multiple occasions, but the result is a stage that feels just slightly too empty and scenes that not every audience member has the visibility to enjoy.
That said, Blithe Spirit’s first Act still has a lot going for it, including the disastrous séance scene, Edith’s obvious eavesdropping, Madame Arcati flapping around the room like a giant glittering bird, and — perhaps most prominently — Alex McPherson’s outstanding performance as Ruth. McPherson’s high-strung, furious delivery is both compelling and hilarious, and carries the show through some of its drier exchanges.
Post-intermission, the show finally finds its feet. As the grounded action of the first half spirals into absurdist, wildly funny high jinks and fast-paced dialogue, the show transforms into a rip-roaring time. In its back half, Blithe Spirit becomes an almost entirely new show, with an air of playfulness, mischief and — it must be said — excellent use of Lady Gaga. As the house becomes increasingly haunted by enraged spirits, the set is overcome by bright lights, zany sound design and chaotic chase scenes with character tensions boiling over into glorious, petty rage.
The show’s best elements are those that truly capture what it is meant to be — a farce. Houen does his best to elevate the more tedious establishing scenes by adding Edith’s shenanigans, incongruous modern music choices and wacky physical comedy, but the production could benefit from more of that eccentric energy to carry audiences through intermission and into the second half, which is where the show truly shines.
Blithe Spirit runs 1–17 May 2025 at Canberra REP. For booking, see canberrarep.org.au.
Grace Cassidy is a writer and aspiring actress. Over the past two years, she has fallen in love with Canberra’s theatre scene by participating in theatre workshops, acting in local short films and getting involved in the Canberra Youth Theatre’s Emerging Artist programs. Grace is passionate about storytelling and has a soft spot for theatre that explores complex family relationships, ride or die friendships, and themes of hope.
