Spirited show isn’t played for laughs

BLITHE SPIRIT, Royal Exchange, Manchester

MANCHESTER’S Royal Exchange as usual does Christmas a little differently than the rest.

We get not panto, not seasonal sentiment but a play about an unquiet ghost trying to kill off her former husband so she can spend eternity with him, widowing his new wife in the process. Quite a charmer.

The play is, of course, not at all as unpleasant as that summary suggests, thanks to the talent of Noel Coward, whose delightfully bitchy superficiality lends the exercise an air of silliness.

Or does it? I mentioned in a review of the Coliseum’s excellent “Blithe Spirit” earlier this year that at heart the play is a rather cruel story about a man who was tired of his first wife, is getting bored with his second and isn’t too fussed about the possibility of ghostly homicide.

What makes it funny is the way the laughs are played.

Which brings us to Sarah Frankcom’s production. As is often the case at this theatre, the director has gone for an interpretation of the text that allows Coward’s comic lines to bump to the front of the queue but doesn’t overplay the funny business and exaggerated characterisation that makes the words even funnier.

Only one character, Annette Badland’s Arcati, is allowed full throttle and grabs the opportunity to skip and jump around the place like a demented bulldog.

It’s a funny performance, but with everyone else slightly restrained, it looks a bit too hammy for its own good.

Milo Twomey as Condomine is, in contrast, treelike. I’ve rarely seen an actor so still when not speaking.

The two leading women, Oldham star Suranne Jones as Ruth and Nelly Harker as ghostly Elvira, are indignant and coquettish respectively, but only rarely do they get the chance to put any other skills to work.

Make no mistake, this is a funny production of a classic comedy.

With more performances perhaps the feel of the show will improve — but it’s one you have to warm to, whereas the Coliseum’s production hit the ground fully-formed and was immediately likeable.