To sum it up: An eccentric medium and two wives proved too much for a novelist to handle. Blithe Spirit is an adaptation from the original 1941 Noel Cowan comic play, which premiered in London. Taking on a local twist, the play ran at the Drama Centre from Apr 12 to Apr 29.

With the likes of familiar faces from local theatre and television, such as Lim Kay Siu, Neo Swee Lin, Tan Kheng Hua, Selena Tan and Pamela Oei, acclaimed Director Glen Goei’s collaboration with W!ld Rice seems to have dished out yet another magical production.

The play’s main character Charles Koh (Lim Kay Siu) looks around for inspiration for a character in his up and coming novel. While researching for his novel, he meets a certain Madame Arcati. She happens to be a medium by profession, and to enhance a similar character, he planned to include things about her personality and his expereicnes with her in his writing.

Unfortunately, all hell breaks loose after meeting up with Madame Arcati. During the session, the spirit of Charles’s deceased ex-wife, Elvira (Tan Kheng Hua), returns to his house.

The return of Elvira marked the start of endless bickering and dramatic argument between Charles and his current wife, Ruth (Neo Swee Lin).

Adding local flavour to the play, one of the characters is the maid, Edith (Pamela Oei), a Filipina domestic helper..

Her character coupled with the ridiculously flamboyant character of Madame Acarti provided the timely comic relief amidst the angst exchanges between the three main characters, allowing the audience to relate to things that they were familiar with.

Fans of W!ld Rice should be forewarned that they should not be expecting elaborate costumes or fantabulous set design. The set design, costume and lighting were just mentionable. There was no change on the set unlike in previous W!ld Rice productions such as Jack and the Beansprout. Thankfully, it still managed to captivate the audience and delivered the essence of the story.

It was the witty exchanges that made the audience stay for the whole duration of the play and actually enjoy themselves. Meticulous scripting and performance of the script was the heart and soul of the production. Though it must have been a real challenge to the performers without the help of special effects on stage, they were able to pull it off in bang and style. The only thing that could have been improved upon would be tighter pacing through out the show.

Overall, Blithe Spirit is definitely something worth giving up precious leisure time for! And for those who have already caught it, the neat production is sure to bring them back to the theatres for other W!ld Rice productions lined up in 2007.

For more information, please visit W!ld Rice Productions.

Picture courtesy of W!ld Rice Productions.