Celebrating 125 years of Noël Coward

As a foretaste of next year’s 125th anniversary of the birth of Noël Coward, New Era Players are putting on a production of perhaps his most beloved work, ‘Blithe Spirit’, in November and December this year.

Coward himself called this play ‘an improbable farce in three acts,’ and it should certainly make the little theatre in Wash Common ring with laughter for a couple of weeks. Published in 1941, Coward rewinds time to the pre-war period, and creates a masterpiece in which the only war is between Charles Condomine’s current wife, Ruth, and the ghost of his previous wife, Elvira, who has inadvertently been conjured up during a séance, conducted by the indomitable Madame Arcati.

This is very much a ‘comedy of manners’, with its brittle, upper class cast of characters and its witty one-liners, examining the lives and morals of the inhabitants of a Kentish cottage. It is a combination of drawing room comedy and ghost story that has made it a perennial favourite in theatres everywhere.

So what else do you need to know about Noël Coward? Well, he was born in 1899 and died in 1973, and was an English playwright, director, actor, producer and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called ‘a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise’, which sums him up rather nicely.

The cast currently in rehearsal at New Era are having a “jolly nice time, and are looking forward to welcoming you to the theatre soon for some spectral shenanigans”. Beware of ghostly goings on!

The New Era Players present Blithe Spirit on November 23-25 and November 28- December 2 at the New Era Theatre, Andover Road, Wash Common, Newbury RG14 6NU. Tickets are £12 each and are available online at ticketsource.co.uk/new-era-players.

For other enquiries, email the Box Office at boxoffice@neweraplayers.org or call 07919 916009. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.