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Help us bring to life (and afterlife) Noel Coward's classic comedy "Blithe Spirit"!In this farce of manners and spectral meddling, cantankerous novelist Charles has remarried but finds himself haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife, Elvira, when an eccentric and flighty medium unexpectedly calls her from the spirit realm. Personalities clash and spectral antics ensue as Elvira makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles's marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost.
"Blithe Spirit" will have 8 performances - November 14-16 at 7 pm; November 17 at 2 pm; and November 19-22 at 7 pm. The director is Paula Mabry, assisted by Brittany Page.
Auditions will take place upstairs at the Playhouse on Main on Sunday, September 15 and Monday, September 16, starting at 6 pm. Rehearsals will start in late September, potentially as soon as several days after auditions.
Auditions will consist of cold readings from the play script. A perusal copy of a script is available by request if you send an email to SCT Executive Director Gabe Smith at [email protected].
There are 7 principal acting roles available, for 5 female characters and 2 male characters.
CHARLES CONDOMINE (30s-60s)
A novelist. Charles is bright, sophisticated, articulate, and debonair but somewhat at the mercy of his wives, past and present. His interest in spiritualism as a subject for a novel leads Charles to ask Madame Arcati to dinner and a séance. He is skeptical but becomes a believer when the ghost of his first wife appears—and stays.
RUTH CONDOMINE (30s-60s)
Charles’s second wife. Like her husband, Ruth is witty and sophisticated, and she is quite the society matron. Ruth is a bit stuffy and a little predictable. She is convinced that Charles has lost his mind when Elvira appears. Ruth acts as a concerned wife, trying to restore Charles to normalcy.
ELVIRA (flexible age range)
The ghost of Charles’s first wife. Only Charles can see or hear her. In life, Elvira was spirited, outgoing, wild, and carefree. In death, she is no different; she socializes with Genghis Khan. She does love Charles, if somewhat casually, and is jealous of Ruth.
MADAME ARCATI (50s-60s)
The local spiritualist and medium. Elderly but spry, Madame Arcati comes into the play talking to an eight-year-old contact on the other side. She truly is in contact with the other world and inadvertently is the “medium” through which Elvira is called back to this one. She is eccentric, effusive and boisterous.
DR. GEORGE BRADMAN (30s-60s)
A good friend of the Condomines who is invited to dinner and the séance. He is entirely skeptical of anything to do with the occult but tries his utmost to go along with the proceedings for the sake of Charles’ research.
VIOLET BRADMAN (30s-60s)
Dr. Bradman’s wife. Simple and naïve, she is quite excited about being in the presence of the medium, whom she finds fascinating.
EDITH (flexible age range)
The Condomine’s new maid. She is nervous and tears around at breakneck speed trying to do things right and make a good impression.
For additional questions about the show or the auditions, email the director at [email protected].
"Blithe Spirit" is produced in special arrangement with Concord Theatricals, on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Starkville Community Theatre, 108 E Main St, Starkville, MS 39759-2928, United States,Starkville, Mississippi