Blythe Spirit – 1968

This was TADS’ very first production, and was performed in 1968 at The George Watson Memorial Hall, Tewkesbury.

Peter Robertson was one of TADS founder members. He played Charles Condomine in Blythe Spirit.

“I can remember most of the cast – just about – and some things about the performances and memorable events. My headmaster (Tewkesbury Grammar School) was furious I spent time with drama when my A levels were imminent.”

Blithe Spirit is a comic play by Noel Coward, described by the author as “an improbable farce in three acts”. The play concerns the socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant Madame Arcati to his house to conduct a seance, hoping to gather material for his next book. The scheme backfires when he is haunted by the ghost of his wilful and temperamental first wife, Elvira, after the séance. Elvira makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles’s marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost.