Playbill UniverseWhat Do Critics Think of Blithe Spirit, Starring Jennifer Saunders?The London production opened March 10 at the Duke of York’s Theatre.
By
Dan Meyer
March 11, 2020
Jennifer Saunders and Emma Naomi in Blithe Spirit.
Reviews are in for the London production of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, which opened March 10 at the Duke of York's Theatre.
Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) plays Madame Arcati opposite Geoffrey Streatfeild as Charles, Lisa Dillon as Ruth, Emma Naomi as Elvira, Simon Coates as Dr Bradman, Lucy Robinson as Mrs Bradman, and Rose Wardlaw as Edith. Richard Eyre serves as director.
The comedy follows novelist Charles Condomine and his second wife Ruth as they are haunted by a past relationship when an eccentric medium inadvertently conjures up the ghost of his first wife, Elvira, at a seance. When she appears, visible only to Charles and determined to sabotage his current marriage, life—and the afterlife—get complicated.
A separate film adaptation, starring Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, and Judi Dench, will premiere this year. Watch the trailer here.
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Production Photos: Jennifer Saunders in Blithe Spirit
Production Photos: Jennifer Saunders in Blithe Spirit
19 PHOTOS
Jennifer Saunders in Blithe Spirit.
Nobby Clark
Rose Wardlaw in Blithe Spirit.
Nobby Clark
Jennifer Saunders and Geoffrey Streatfeild in Blithe Spirit.
Nobby Clark
Jennifer Saunders in Blithe Spirit.
Nobby Clark
Geoffrey Streatfeild, Emma Naomi, Jennifer Saunders, and Lisa Dillon in Blithe Spirit.
The play comes on the heels of a broader cultural conversation about Dahl's work and the prejudice that was embedded in many of his most beloved stories.
