Theatre / Blithe Spirit, written by Noel Coward, directed by Lachlan Houen. At Canberra Rep Theatre, Acton, until May 17. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

Directors who try to put their own stamp on a Noel Coward play need to tread warily. 

Canberra Rep’s new production “draws on classic and contemporary styles”, according to the flyer provided instead of a program.

Coward wrote Blithe Spirit, his most popular play at the time, in 1941. Described by Coward himself as “an improbable farce”, a séance arranged by a writer for background material for a novel he is writing, results in the unexpected return of the ghost of a former wife.

Her continuing presence causes major difficulties as the writer has since remarried.

This production starts with pounding disco-era music before being changed on a 1950s radiogram by the maid, Edith, to something more suitable to the 1950s, the era in which the play appears to be set. This period works fine for the play and the cast are dressed in the style of the day.

As Charles Condomine, the writer, Peter Holland gives a fine performance of style, wit and comic timing. Elaine Noone is a hilariously eccentric Madam Arcati, the medium and clairvoyant. Her costume by designer, Suzan Cooper, is a beauty.

By playing it straight, the performances of Alex McPherson as the current wife, Ruth, and Winsome Ogilvie as the ghost of former wife, Elvira, lack the style and manner necessary for this farce to really work. This is particularly noticeable in the long argument scenes that should be very funny but just seem heavy and tedious.

Liv Boddington as the maid, Edith, gives a nice performance but some of the physical action given to her is distracting. Having her suddenly appear at the side of the stage on a modern exercise bike takes your attention away from an important discussion between Charles and Ruth about Charles’s former wife, Elvira. There is also a suggestion that Edith has magical powers, too, which is another distraction in a production full of them.

For example, if Ruth is horrified by the sight of a vase of flowers apparently moving by itself, why didn’t she notice the magazine’s pages turning when Elvira was reading it a few moments before?

Elaine Noone has to struggle on and offstage with a bicycle unnecessarily, the radiogram plays only small amounts of the song Always and abruptly stops but no-one is seen turning it off. The grandfather clock in the hallway wobbles alarmingly when people walk past it and the set, designed by Andrew Kay and Michael Sparks, is a jarring mix of classic and contemporary styles.

In addition, the long dialogue scenes between characters in this production are too static. You are often looking at the backs of players’ heads for far too long.

If the use of contemporary music was an attempt to make this play more relevant to today, it became just another distraction. An opportunity to see a Noel Coward play is usually very welcome but this production is a disappointment.

A haunting comedy about ghosts, but it’s not