Never tangle with the supernatural.

That’s the message of Blithe Spirit, Kanata Theatre’s next show.

Noel Coward’s masterful post war comedy is the perfect season closer. Coward designed this play to help audiences get their minds off the war. It has worked for more than 60 years. In the play when Charles invites an eccentric medium to entertain guests he gets more than he bargained for. How could he know she would conjure up the spirit of his feisty and jealous first wife to torment both him and wife number two?

This show is a repeat of one of the three Coward plays Kanata Theatre has done. Present Laughter was the company’s very first full length play back in 1970. The first production of Blithe Spirit came a few years later. The company has also performed Coward’s Hay Fever, one of the most frequently performed plays in the English language.

The multi-talented Coward pretty much dominated popular theatre in the first half of the past century. He was the toast of both London and New York. He hobnobbed with the rich and famous on both sides of the Atlantic. He left behind a treasure house of literature for both musical and non-musical theatre. His many songs, often funny, often poignant, continue to be performed. The world would be a poorer place without Mad Dogs and Englishmen, I’ll Follow My Secret Heart, I’ll See You Again, A Room With a View and countless other hits. And best of all we have a record of his live performances still sold in CD stores everywhere.

The cast of Blithe Spirit includes four of the actors whose performances helped make last year’s Enchanted April such a popular favourite. They are Andrea Fajrajsl as Ruth, Tania Carriere as Elvira, Larraine Gorman as Mrs Bradman and Nedra Nash as Madam Arcati. Joining them are John Collins as Charles, Louis Lemire as Dr. Bradman and Fiona Rothwell as Edith.

Blithe Spirit is directed by Barry Caiger who has acted many times on the Kanata Theatre stage, most recently last year in the award winning Noises Off.

Blithe Spirit runs in the Ron Maslin Playhouse, 1 Ron Maslin Way, Kanata, Tuesday to Saturday May 22 to June 2. The Playhouse enjoys abundant free parking and is fully accessible. Hearing assist is available. Curtain is at 8 pm sharp. Tickets are $15. The box office number is 613-831-4435. For more information about this production and Kanata Theatre you can visit the website at   www.kanatatheatre.com.

Kanata, Ontario – May 11, 2007 - Kanata Theatre presents Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit,  Tuesday to Saturday May 22 to June 2.

This fun, light-hearted comedy answers the question “what kind of havoc would it wreak if your dead first wife were to suddenly join you and your second wife for dinner?" (especially if no one could see your first wife except for you!). Noel Coward’s popular play is a uniquely comic look at life-after-death, one which makes good use of marital insecurities.

When Charles Condomine decides to invite a psychic to dinner in order to gather material for the novel he is writing he little suspects that it will turn his life upside down. But despite the skepticism of Charles and his wife Ruth and Dr and Mrs Bradman, who join them, Madame Arcati manages to conjure up the spirit of Charles' dead wife Elvira. And then the fun really begins. While the eccentric and flamboyant medium Arcati continues her efforts to exorcise the cheeky Elvira, the plot twists and will keep you guessing at who really called Elvira back.

Coward's own favourite play, written during one of the darkest periods of the war, delighted and tickled the audiences for over four years. Full of mischief and wit, it continues to be a delightful crowd pleaser.

Blithe Spirit runs in the Ron Maslin Playhouse, 1 Ron Maslin Way, Kanata, Tuesday to Saturday May 22 to June 2. The Playhouse enjoys abundant free parking and is fully accessible. Hearing assist is available. Curtain is at 8 pm sharp. Tickets are $15. The box office number is 613-831-4435. For more information about this production and Kanata Theatre you can visit the website at   www.kanatatheatre.com.