Blithe Spirit

by Noël Coward
Loft Theatre Company, February 2006
Director: Gordon Vallins

This jolly romp gave me a chance to transform my appearance in the most extreme manner since 1998’s A Tomb with a View. Although the character of Charles Condomine in Coward’s "improbable farce" is supposed to be a couple of years younger than me, I tend to look young on stage and the director felt that physically I needed "more gravitas". The beard was his idea; shaving the top of my head was mine. Needless to say, I regretted it once I’d done it and, for the two weeks of the run, spent every waking moment not on stage wearing a baseball cap. It does look right for the character though and I earned brownie points for doing it.

This is me with Ruth Carter playing the ghost of my first wife, Elvira.

"Is there anybody there?" The first séance: left to right, Jeremy Heynes as Dr Bradman, Ann Williams as Ruth Condomine, Vicky Whitehill as Madame Arcati, me and Christine Ingall as Mrs Bradman.