"Blithe Spirit" - by Noël Coward - New Players Theatre Guild (Fitchburg, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: The CAST of Noël Coward's "BLITHE SPIRIT" from New Players Theatre Guild in Fitchburg, MA. through October 19 2025. Photo Credit: Martha Brooks)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."
- ("Charles") / Noël Coward
New Players Theatre Guild
Presents Noël Coward's
"BLITHE SPIRIT"
Written by Noël Coward
Directed by Martha Brooks
Cast Includes: Lexi Rock as “Edith,” Pamela Ryba as “Ruth,” John Lynch as “Charles Condomine,” Kevin McGee as “Dr. Bradman,” Carolyn Salter as “Mrs. Bradman,” Carol Allard Vancil as “Madame Arcati,” Amy Newberg as “Elvira.”
Additional Creative Team:
Producers – Nancy King, Bill McGrath; Stage Managers – Sabrina Hildreth, Mary Philpotts; Set Construction – Hal Smith, Bill McGrath; Special Effects Tech – Hal Smith; Set Decoration – Martha Brooks; Art Direction – Nancy King; Set Painting – Nancy King, Monica Bourgault; Sound Design – Tom Powers; Sound Tech – Missy Cote, Brandon Ripley; Lighting Design – Matt Valeri; Lighting Tech – Marina Matuzik; Costumes – Beth Drummey.
Performances:
October 10, 2025 through October 19, 2025
(Contact Venue for Exact Dates and Times)
New Players Theatre Guild Center for the Performing Arts, 15 Rollstone Street, Fitchburg, MA. 01420
TICKETS:
Phone # 978-345-6570
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COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
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(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
New Players Theatre Guild (NPTG) offers up a spooky season treat with "BLITHE SPIRIT" a somewhat dated yet still revered comedy by Sir Noël Peirce Coward.
Under the capable direction of Martha Brooks, turmoil results from a confrontational relationship between competing wives Elvira and Ruth, separated by an astral plane.
That’s right – one wife is very much alive while the other one…well, isn’t…yet still the two “Mrs. Condomines” are combative as they deal with a disastrous situation.
The NPTG creative team for "BLITHE SPIRIT" has created a fine-looking set that is also deceptively clever, as it is revealed by the show’s conclusion.
The 7-person NPTG cast provides an impressive presentation of the rather archaic material that still conjures up a huge dose of laughter.
(Photo: Carolyn Salter as “Mrs. Bradman,” John Lynch as “Charles Condomine,” Carol Allard Vancil as “Madame Arcati,” Pamela Ryba as “Ruth,” and Kevin McGee as “Dr. Bradman” in a scene from Noël Coward's "BLITHE SPIRIT" from New Players Theatre Guild in Fitchburg, MA. through October 19 2025. Photo Credit: Martha Brooks)
After a séance goes wrong, a writer must deal with the antics of his current wife, as well as the menacing ghost of his first wife.
Subtitled as “An Improbable Farce in Three Acts,” from the outset, it should be noted Coward’s story for "BLITHE SPIRIT" is extremely dated and to best enjoy it, one must accept it as a product of its bygone era.
The NPTG staging in Fitchburg has two intermissions – one short five-minute one between the first and second acts and then a 15-minute intermission between acts two and three.
Although "BLITHE SPIRIT" is long, the NPTG show’s pacing is solid with expedited scene changes.
Costuming for the time-period is both colorful and period-specific. Coward’s writing has a droll, dry wit (dry as in as arid as a desert) but "BLITHE SPIRIT" maintains a charm associated with watching an old black and white movie.
"BLITHE SPIRIT" debuted in London’s West End in 1941 where it ran for a whopping 1,997 performances before closing in 1946.
The show would make its Broadway debut also in 1941 first at the Morosco Theatre, then moving to the Booth Theatre where it ran for 657 performances.
The play is set in Kent, London in 1937, and is performed by actors with an acceptable level of English accents.
We meet celebrated author Charles Condomine (John Lynch) who lives on a lavish estate in Kent, England with his second wife, Ruth (Pamela Ryba).
(Photo: Pamela Ryba as “Ruth,” Amy Newberg as “Elvira,” Carol Allard Vancil as “Madame Arcati” and John Lynch as “Charles Condomine” in a scene from Noël Coward's "BLITHE SPIRIT" from New Players Theatre Guild in Fitchburg, MA. through October 19 2025. Photo Credit: Martha Brooks)
As events of "BLITHE SPIRIT" unfold, it is hard to “root” for the couple given their boorish personalities and lifestyle - but the actors, under the direction of Brooks, do their best to make them more relatable.
While needing to seriously suspend disbelief as to the “middle age” of Charles as played by Lynch, the actor is simply marvelous in the role of the stodgy, stoic and completely patriarchal Charles.
Charles’ erudite, sophisticated personality is balanced by an equal dose of soothing humor and calm, but that calmness soon gets upended by an unexpected visitor from Charles’ past.
As Ruth, Ryba provides a commendable performance as Charles’ wife, although the character, as written by Coward, has an elitist, spoiled, immature demeanor, even when she tries to be supportive of Charles as things go awry for him as the story progresses.
The duo has their equally boorish friends - Dr. Bradman and his wife (Kevin McGee and Carolyn Salter) - over for dinner and entertainment.
McGee and Salter offer up some fine performances as the couple but, again as written by Coward, are barely on stage long enough to really connect with them.
Coward didn’t even bother to give “Mrs. Bradford” a first name.
The entertainment is in the form of a séance, conducted by eccentric medium Madame Arcati (Carol Allard Vancil).
The séance is preceded by conversations between Charles and Ruth about Charles' long-dead first wife, Elvira (pronounced "Elveera" and played by Amy Newberg) who passed on seven years earlier.
Vancil as channeler Arcati has a complete grasp of the eccentric character and brings a lot of laughs at nearly every turn.
While anticipating a night of laughs, the night proves to be hardly fun and games for Charles.
Unknown to Arcati, Charles is having her conduct the séance as part of his research for a new novel he is writing.
As a result of the séance, though, Arcati actually conjures the spirit of Elvira and this is where the iconic Coward tale really takes off. Amy Newberg gives a formidable portrayal of the mischievous spirit of Elvira.
(Photo: Amy Newberg as “Elvira,” Pamela Ryba as “Ruth,” John Lynch as “Charles Condomine,” Lexi Rock as “Edith” and Carol Allard Vancil as “Madame Arcati” in a scene from Noël Coward's "BLITHE SPIRIT" from New Players Theatre Guild in Fitchburg, MA. through October 19 2025. Photo Credit: Martha Brooks)
As only Charles sees and interacts with her presence, Elvira wastes no time in causing mayhem between Charles and Ruth.
The women as depicted in Coward’s 80+ year-old text for "BLITHE SPIRIT" – Elvira, Ruth, even Mrs. Bradman or the Comdimine’s unsettled maid Edith (in an amusing performanceby Lexi Rock) - all come across as culturally proper, educated, but also quite immature, whiny and "child-like" with the men treating them as such.
This is NOT the fault of the NPTG cast nor its creative team, as the production fully captures and excels at the most humorous scenes in Coward’s play.
Yet, with Charles treating both Ruth and Elvira as if they are spoiled children instead of loving equal partners, we find ourselves actually rooting for his comeuppance for his autocratic, chauvinist pomposity.
Even with its dated material, "BLITHE SPIRIT" is still clever and funny and, ultimately, it is the collective performances which make the play well worth seeing.
"BLITHE SPIRIT" continues from New Players Theatre Guild in Fitchburg until October 19, 2025 - So, make sure to catch this spirited production before it vanishes forever.
For tickets or more information, contact # 978-345-6570 or visit nptg.org.
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Approximately two hours, 40 minutes with two intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
In Noël Coward's
"BLITHE SPIRIT" in order to research material on the occult for his next book, novelist Charles Condomine and his wife Ruth host two of their friends for dinner and invite the eccentric medium, Madame Arcati, to join them and finish off the evening with a séance.
Though the hosts are skeptical of Madame Arcati’s actual clairvoyance, the séance works and the spirit of Charles’ temperamental first wife, Elvira, returns from beyond the grave- at first just her voice, but then she just walks right in through the French doors.
Unhappy with the fact that Charles has remarried and remaining only able to be seen and heard by him and not Ruth, Elvira takes the opportunity to disrupt his marriage through a good old classic haunting.
Things take an even steeper turn when Elvira eventually makes an attempt on Charles’ life so that he may join her in the afterlife.
ABOUT NEW PLAYERS THEATRE GUILD (NPTG)
The goal of NEW PLAYERS THEATRE GUILD (NPTG) is to foster and promote an active interest in community theater. It is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging people of all ages to participate in the joy of creating quality theater for the Montachusett area audiences. NPTG presents small to medium-scale musical productions and musical reviews for the public as well as straight plays. NEW PLAYERS THEATRE GUILD was founded in 1975 and varies in membership size, but has, at times grown to a membership of over 120 people. The group is managed by a Board of Directors, elected yearly by the membership, as well as several committees that carry out the various activities of the organization.
15 Rollstone Street
Fitchburg, MA. 01420
# 978-345-6570
