Jennifer Saunders is set to star in Noel Coward's comedy Blithe Spirit as director Richard Eyre's production of the play transfers to the West End's Duke of York's Theatre in London for a limited run from March 2020.
Saunders will play clairvoyant Madame Arcati who is hired by writer Charles Condomine to help gather material for his latest novel, but instead, fathoms the spirit of his first wife. The role has been played by many respected actors, including Angela Lansbury and Alison Steadman.
Blithe Spirit will run in London at the Duke of York's Theatre from 5th March to 11th April 2020, with an official opening night on 10th March.
The production premiered at Theatre Royal Bath, to positive reviews including The Stage's Jeremy Brien labelling Saunders' performance "tailor-made for the role of the dotty, but deadly serious, medium", while The Guardian's Clare Brennan adds, '[Saunders'] comic interplay of tensions between real and imaginary is touchingly personified in Jennifer Saunders’s Madame Arcati'.
The cast of the play is completed by Geoffrey Streatfeild as Charles, Lisa Dillon as Ruth Condomine, Emma Naomi as Elvira, Simon Coates as Dr Bradman, Lucy Robinson as Mrs Bradman, and Rose Wardlaw as Edith.
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