With Carolyn Gregory as Madame Arcati at “Blithe Spirit,” Theatre in the Heights, directed by Blake Flores."Blithe Spirit," directed by Blake Flores at Theatre in the Heights in Citrus Heights (October 6-November 5, 2017), is a great show. Who doesn't love a ghost story, after all?
Noel Coward's 1941 drawing-room comedy tends to be long (three acts), and relies on that timeless formula that two is company but three is a crowd, but it is so well-written as to be endlessly appealing. The actors have ample opportunities to switch moods and mine new comedic gold as opportunities arise.
Carolyn Gregory did well as the dotty but well-meaning spiritual medium, Madame Arcati. Steven Handa was pleasant as Charles Condamine, the charismatic novelist with an afterlife problem. Elvira (Crystal Neher-Evans) and Ruth (Ronnie Duska Fowler), Charles' wives #1 & #2, make a formidable team, alternately fighting one another and working in league. I particularly liked Ronnie Duska Fowler's performance as Ruth, jealous wife #2. Ruth has to switch emotional gears rapidly, convincingly, and often, and Fowler performs flawlessly. Torie Stoicich (a dancer) was amusing as the laconic and bumbling maid, Edith.
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