Theatre Calgary summons ghost of Noel Coward in new production of Blithe Spirit

Louise Duff (Ruth), Meg Farhall (Mrs. Bradman), Corrine Koslo (Madame Arcati), Tyrell Crews (Charles), Christopher Hunt (Dr. Bradman) in Blithe Spirit at Theatre Calgary. (Trudie Lee)

Theatre Calgary is summoning the spirit of a comedy classic in its new production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit.

The 1941 comedy tells the story of novelist Charles Condomine, who invites a medium named Madame Arcati to a dinner party which results in the spirit of his dead wife accidentally being summoned back to the natural world.

Charles can see the ghost, but to everyone else, she’s invisible, including his present wife, Ruth – and comic mayhem ensues.

The play was last produced at Theatre Calgary in 1989, then again at Vertigo Mystery Theatre in 2011, and now again in 2025 – proving that nothing ages better than a good ghost story.

The cast includes an almost all-Calgary cast, including Tyrell Crews as Condomine, Emily Howard as the ghost of Elvira, and Christopher Hunt, who was also in Vertigo’s 2011 production, as Dr. Bradman.

New to the stage at the Max Bell Theatre are Louise Duff, Ali DeRegt, Meg Farhall and Corrine Koslo, who plays the misfiring medium Madame Arcati.

The play also marks the return of director Nikki Loach to the stage where she directed a number of productions, including The Miracle Worker, Crimes of the Heart, A Christmas Carol and Memoir.

“In Blithe Spirit, Coward lets us watch the worlds of the natural, unnatural and supernatural collide,” said Loach, in a media release.

“A traditional ceremonial vow such as ‘till death do us part’ presents an inflexible binding lifelong contract.

“However, humans have often lost the battle between what we ought to do and what we actually do, and when Madame Arcati intersects the worlds of the living and the dead, secrets are revealed, and control is lost.

“Watching the rules being set up, broken and come off the rails I see why Coward calls this his ‘improbable farce.”

Blithe Spirit runs through April 13 at Arts Commons. For tickets and info, go here.