Blithe Spirit (Methuen Modern Plays) (Modern Classics)

Blithe Spirit (Methuen Modern Plays) (Modern Classics)

by Noël Coward (Author)

Synopsis

I will ever be grateful for the almost psychic gift that enabled me to write Blithe Spirit in five days during one of the darkest years of the war.' Written in 1941, Blithe Spirit remained the longest-running comedy in British Theatre for three decades thereafter. Plotted around the central role of one of Coward's best loved characters, a spirit medium Madame Arcati (originally performed by Margaret Rutherford) Coward's play is an escapist comedy about a man whose two previous wives return to haunt him. A minor comic masterpiece of the lighter sort Professor Allardyce Nicoll

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 144
Publisher: Methuen Drama
Published: 20 Jun 2002

ISBN 10: 0413771970
ISBN 13: 9780413771971

Media Reviews
'Some of [Coward's] most sparkling dialogue ever... This play is about something substantial - the way past relationships come back to haunt us - but it's the gossamer-like nature of the piece, its sheer levity of spirit, that makes it such an enduring achievement.' Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph, 22.6.09 '...it remains a fine example of Coward's craftsmanship and polished economy with words.' Paul Callan, Daily Express, 10.03.11
Author Bio
Noel Coward made his name as a playwright with The Vortex (1924), in which he also appeared. His numerous other successful plays included Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, and Blithe Spirit. During the war he wrote screenplays such as Brief Encounter (1944) and This Happy Breed (1942). His volumes of verse, autobiography and letters have all been published to acclaim by Methuen Drama. Coward was knighted in 1970 and died three years later in Jamaica.