The cast for the upcoming production of “Blithe Spirit” has been announced.
Director Tom Wilbur held auditions this past Saturday for the comic play by Noel Coward. The story line, according to Wilbur, is about socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, being played by Nick Owen, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant Madame Arcati, being played by Angela Martin and Gretta Steffens, to his house to conduct a seance, hoping to gather material for his next book.
When his scheme backfires, he is haunted by the ghost of his annoying and temperamental first wife, Elvira, who will be played by local star, Erica Miller.
Janet Rawls has been cast as Ruth Condomine, Charles’s second wife. Ruth is witty and sophisticated, and quite the society matron. She’s 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.
Dr. George Bradman, being played by Aaron Batts, is 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.
Rose Lee, playing Violet Bradman, will portray Dr. Bradman’s wife. Simple and naive, she is quite excited about being in the presence of the medium, whom she finds fascinating.
Schuyler Floyd and Amber Lackey will share the role of Edith, who is the Condomine’s new maid. She is nervous and tears around at breakneck speed trying to do things right and make a good impression.
“This play truly brings a lot of laughter to the stage,” Wilbur said. “Set in England, I’ve had people concerned about having an English accent. I like to say, ‘If you have a good one, we want to hear it. But if you don’t have a good one, don’t try.’”
Performance are slated for Sept. 21-22 and 28-29 at 7:30 p.m. and matinee performances Sept. 23 and 30 at 2:30 p.m.
This production is being sponsored by Ken Sutton of State Farm Insurance.
Wilbur’s last production on the SCT stage was “The Odd Couple, Female Version” performed in October 2017. In addition to directing nearly two dozen of his own productions, Wilbur has performed on the stage in 17 shows.