'Spirit' in the night

Noel Coward's story "The Blithe Spirit" was designed to serve as an escape from wartime London in the midst of the tragedy of World War II.

The story -- a comic farce with plenty of Coward's twists and turns -- was written in 1941 in the midst of the siege on Britain, but it's set in the decade before the war, when the idea of toying with ghosts of the departed seemed less macabre and political.

The play begins with novelist Charles Condomine (Michael Weaver) inviting the spirit medium Madame Arcati (Sheila Kadra) over for a dinner party to help research his new mystery novel. While there the medium conducts a séance and inadvertently summons the ghost of Charles' first wife, Elvira (Christine Grefe), whose presence is visible only to Charles. Elvira then begins a mission of trying to disrupt Charles' marriage with his second wife, Ruth (Maya White).

The story evokes the re-emergence of spiritualism that took place during World War II, when people had an understandable desire to reconnect with lost loved ones. And it also reminds audiences of the folly of trying to contact the ghosts of the past. "Blithe Spirit" ran for a record-setting 1,997 performances in London during the war.

"People convinced (Coward) that audiences needed something that was light, breezy," said Jim Kadra, who directs the play, which opens Friday at the May River Theater. "He felt it inappropriate to set a comedy in a period of time when the war was still there. To have a light airy comedy going on with the city in almost ruins and all would have been a little out of place."

The comic foibles continue as Charles and the medium (who was portrayed by Angela Lansbury in a New York revival last spring) try to exorcise the spirit of Elvira from the house, and get even more out of hand when Elvira causes Ruth to get into an accident, killing her and adding her to the roster of ghosts haunting poor Charles.

Kadra said he chose the play because it was an example of Coward's deft writing skills. "It is very humorous, (and) actually funny when done properly. It's a real fine piece of playwriting," Kadra said. "The structure of this play and the way the lines fall and the way the words are used; it's got some fine craftsmanship."

Kadra's other recent work for May River Theater includes the musical "Sugar" and "My Three Angels," a play that also has humorous lines but not the depth of character found in "Blithe Spirit," he said.

Kadra had less difficulty casting this play then he did with others, a surprise considering the challenges of the wry British humor of the script. The play involves a seven-member ensemble cast that's necessary to the balance of the production in the English country house stage, something that forced Kadra to work like an orchestra conductor.

"The conductor wants to get that overall sound and not have something stand out that shouldn't be," he said.

Kadra, who's lived in the area for six years and stage managed several other productions at the theater, has been involved in the performing arts since attending Boston College in the 1950s. He's directed more than 30 full-length plays and one acts over the years in the Boston area and elsewhere. May River Theater is one of the finest he's ever worked in.

"I believe that the productions there are outstanding for a community theater," he said. "It's a great asset to the town of Bluffton to have that kind of high-quality cultural institution."

The play runs Nov. 6 through Nov. 22 and also stars Sharon Walker, Tony Falgiani, and Bob Bredin.