The cast for the Department of Theatre and Dance production of Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” includes (front) Sivan Adler as Madame Arcati; and (back, from left) Julia Ferrara as Ruth Condomine, Phineas Goodman as Charles Condomine, and Audrey Erwin as Elvira.
One husband, two wives — and one spirited evening.
That’s the billing for a classic comedy from Noel Coward that is the next offering in the Walter Gloor Mainstage Series at SUNY Fredonia.
The Department of Theatre and Dance presents six performances of Coward’s 1941 hit “Blithe Spirit” from April 24 to May 3 in the Robert W. Marvel Theatre of Rockefeller Arts Center
Tickets are available online 24/7 Tickets may also be purchased on Monday, Wednesday or Friday by phone at (716) 673-3501 or in person at the Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and at the door.
Performance dates and times are Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, April 26 at 2 p.m.; Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, May 3 at 2 p.m.
Described by Coward himself as “an improbable farce in three acts,” “Blithe Spirit” centers on a cantankerous novelist who finds himself haunted by the ghost of his late first wife after he remarries.
Director Paul W. Mockovak, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, considers the play to be “very much in the signature style of Noel Coward — high-society wit with supernatural absurdity.”
“He even calls the play ‘an improbable farce,’” Mockovak said. “Other elements of Coward’s style include razor-sharp dialogue where the comedy is imbedded in the language. We amplify that with what we intend to be appropriate physical comedy.”
The director added that the play remains popular because of “great story telling, a joy in theatricality, and the magic of live performance.”
“Those who are fans of ‘Downton Abbey’ will recall in the final movie that it was Mr. Noel Coward and his celebrity that saved the day for Lady Mary,” Mockovak said.
The setting for the Mainstage production is “a traditional one” of an early 1940s country home.
“This allows for some great design elements for setting by co-designers Czerton Lim and Jharrel Liam Bernardo and beautiful costumes co-designed by Jessica Lustig and Indrid Wood including stairs to a second floor and the requisite French doors to the garden,” Mockovak said.
Almost 100 students and faculty are involved in this Mainstage production.
“We have a full cast each with understudies, a full design team with assistants as well as fantastic artisans who build the sets, props, and costumes,” Mockovak said. “In addition, there are those involved with light, sound and those who will be backstage during each performance as our running crew to keep things steady.”
It all comes together for a highlight-filled presentation of “Blithe Spirit.”
“We have a fantastic cast who have absolutely taken to Coward’s style of delivery and period dialect as well as an acute sense of comedy,” the director said. “I am particularly excited about some of the special effects our design team is developing for the end of the show which is always great fun.”
Mockovak hopes audiences will take away the sheer joy that comes from experiencing live theater.
“‘Blithe Spirit’ revels in illusion — séances, ghosts, visual tricks,” he said. “It allows us the magic of live performance and the escape that entertainment can provide.”
“Blithe Spirit” is presented as part of the 2025-26 Lake Shore Bank Season at SUNY Fredonia’s Rockefeller Arts Center. It is presented through special arrangement with Concord Theatricals, Inc.
