Spirited play hits the stage at Mielke

‘Blithe Spirit’ debuts this weekend, putting ‘Til death do us part’ phrase into question
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Spirits have been high at the Mielke Arts Center since live theater resumed late last year, but the spirits will be taking over in the Box in the Wood Theatre Guild’s latest production.

The guild is presenting “Blithe Spirit” from April 29 through May 8, a comedic tale by Noël Coward of writer’s block gone awry when a husband’s first wife returns from the dead to torment him. It’s not the first time that “Blithe Spirit” has been performed at the Mielke, as co-director Cheryl Folkerts performed in the role of Madame Arcati in April 2004.

“It’s one of my favorites. That’s why I wanted to do it,” Folkerts said.

Folkerts noted that she and Mary Madsen, her partner in the director’s chair, disagree a little bit on English humor, but said that, whether done in the British style or in American style, it’ll be funny for audiences either way.

The show starts with novelist Charles Condomine experiencing writer’s block and asking Madame Arcati to his home to conduct a seance in the hopes of generating ideas for a new book. Instead of inspiration, Charles winds up having his first wife, Elvira, who had passed away years earlier, summoned. Elvira is eager to make things unpleasant for Charles and his new wife, Ruth.

“Just the situation where he’s got a new wife for seven years, and the other one is dead and comes back, it’s just crazy,” Folkerts said. “The way they talk to each other, Charles thinks it’s kind of nice to have two wives at the same time. He thinks it’s going to be fun.

However, the fun reaches a point where Elvira sabotages Charles’ car in the hopes that he will join her in the spirit world. However, that backfires when it is Ruth who takes the car out for a drive and reaches her expiration date. Then Ruth’s spirit returns to get revenge on Elvira, and Charles has to contend with two ghostly and spiteful wives.

The directors for the local show made an interesting choice when casting Madame Arcati. While they auditioned several women for the part, the role went to Brandon Byng, who has performed in and directed other Box in the Wood shows and is the founder for the Phoenix Players in Clintonville.

“When Brandon came in, I had him reading Charles and all the different roles,” Folkerts said. “Then he just kind of sat there and looked at me, and I said, ‘You want to do Madame Arcati, don’t you?’ He goes, ‘Yes, please.’”

Folkerts noted the decision prompted her to urge the cast to bring their A game, or Byng was likely to overpower them when the show started.

“I loved the part,” Folkerts said of Madame Arcati, “and I knew we needed a traditional, old-time play, because we’d been doing a lot of newer things. I like to do things that people remember.”

Adding to the interesting production was the fact that the Mielke was as cold as a grave with the heat going out. It took a few weeks to get the heating system fixed due to supply issues, but audiences should find the theater comfortably warm when they come out.

“It was 40-some degrees in this building when we had auditions,” Madsen said. “Then we had to rehearse out of the building, because you couldn’t stand it in here.”

“Blithe Spirit” first debuted in Broadway in 1941 and has enjoyed many revivals since then, with Dame Angela Lansbury playing Madame Arcati in two of the revivals in 2009 and 2014 and Jennifer Saunders taking on the medium role in 2019. The play has also seen film adaptations, with the latest coming out in 2020, when Dame Judi Dench tackled the hilarious Madame Arcati role.


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com


AT A GLANCE

WHAT: “Blithe Spirit”

WHEN: 7 p.m. April 29-30 and May 6-7, 2 p.m.

WHERE: Mielke Arts Center, N5649 Airport Road, Shawano

TICKETS: $12 adults, $7 children. Tickets can be purchased at www.shawanoarts.com.