Blithe Spirit

"A hightly efficient laugh machine, sheathed in satiny sophistication.!"
- New York Times

 


Directed by Joel Sass

Starring Wendy Lehr, Michael Booth, Kate Eifrig, Amy McDonald, Kirby Bennett, Sam Landman, Georgina Stoyles

 

When successful novelist Charles Condomine and his wife Ruth invite a local psychic to conduct a séance at their dinner party to gather material for his next book, they fully believe her to be a harmless fraud.  But Madam Arcati successfully conjures up the ghost of Charles’ annoying and temperamental first wife, Elvira, who decides not to honor the vow “until death do us part.”  Instead, Elvira settles in to haunt the house—and her spouse!—in this sparkling comedy that celebrates the glamour of the 1940s and the timeless wit of Noël Coward.  Featuring the Jungle’s beloved Wendy Lehr as Madame Arcati!

Tuesday - Thursday & Sunday 7:30pm
Friday & Saturday 8:00pm
Sunday Matinee 2:00pm

WENDY LEHR (Madam Arcati) is a beloved figure on the Jungle stage, who last appeared in The Gin Game. Wendy has acted on many stages locally—The Jungle Theater (A Delicate Balance, Bone Dry, House of Blue Leaves), The Guthrie Theater (A Christmas Carol), Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Lulu, Lettice and Lovage), Park Square Theatre (Mary Stuart, Noises Off!), The Great American History Theater and Chanhassen Dinner Theaters. 

 

MICHAEL BOOTH (Charles Condomine) last appeared at the Jungle in SHIPWRECKED! as Louis de Rougemont.  He has also appeared in numerous at the Guthrie, Park Square, St. Louis Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Berkshire Playhouse, MN Shakespeare Project, and MN Fringe Festival, and in the films Wooly Boys, This Car Up, and A Simple Plan.

 

KATE EIFRIG (Elvira) has just returned from Berkeley Repertory Theater where she reprised the roles she played in Tiny Kushner at the Guthrie Theater as part of the Guthrie’s Tony Kushner Celebration.  She has also appeared locally with such theater companies as Ten Thousand Things, The Ordway, Outward Spiral, Park Square, Actor’s Theater, and Fifty Foot Penguin.  Kate is thrilled to be back at the Jungle after last appearing on its stage in Recent Tragic Events.

 

AMY MCDONALD (Ruth Condomine) has appeared at the Jungle in Rabbit Hole, Orange Flower Water, and The Pavilion.  Locally, she has performed at The Illusion Theater, The History Theater, Mixed Blood, The Guthrie, Hidden theater, the Cricket, The Old Log Theater, the Playwrights’ Center, and Thirst Theater.  In regional theaters, she has performed at Indiana Rep, The Sacramento Theater Company, The Williamstown Theater Festival, and more.

 

KIRBY BENNETT (Mrs. Bradman)has appeared at numerous local and regional theatres including productions at Park Square Theatre: The Left Hand Singing, The Triumph of Love, Noises Off!, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and The Women; History Theatre: Peace Crimes; Minnesota Jewish Theatre: Chaim’s Love Song, The Triangle Factory Fire Project, The Magic Dreidels and Hanukkah Lights in the Big Sky; Paul Bunyan Playhouse: Twelfth Night, Steel Magnolias, and Bus Stop.

 

SAM L. LANDMAN (Dr. Bradman) is appearing for the first time on the Jungle stage, having appeared throughout the Twin Cities in such productions Girl Friday’s An Empty Plate At the Café Du Grand Boeuf, Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth; Walking Shadow’s Caligula and The American Pilot; and Theatre Pro Rata’s Killer Joe, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead and Trainspotting, among many others.

 

GEORGINA STOYLES (Edith) is happy to be making her first appearance at the Jungle Theater in Blithe Spirit.  She was most recently seen as Sally Talley in Talley’s Folly at the New Court Theater, where she also appeared in Educating Rita and Godspell.  Other regional credits include:  Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Fort Worth Shakespeare in the Park, The Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, among others.