Blithe Spiritualism

In just a few days, Blithe Spirit will be going up at the community theater at which I am involved (ephrataperformingartscenter.com/). I've mentioned this theater before, but this is the first production I've been involved in since I started this blog.

Blithe Spirit is a Noel Coward comedy from the 1940s that is considered one of his masterpieces. It really can be seen as the granddaddy of all the dryly funny British sitcoms that have come along over the years. It involves a socialite writer who invites a medium to his house as research for a book. She ends up conjuring the spirit of his late first wife, and the whole ball really gets rolling from there. It's quite a funny show, and I encourage anyone in the Lancaster County area during the month of June to come check it out. Coward wrote the play as pure escapism for 1941 England, and it serves that same purpose very well now.

But this post is not just about the show itself. It's been over two years since I've done a show, and I'm reminded of the truly spiritual process involved. Any form of art has a spiritual component. There are some truths that are beyond the power of words and reason to convey. We've all experienced this when faced with certain paintings, music, and so on. Having seen hundreds of live theater productions and participated in dozens, however, I am convinced there is in it a quality not found anywhere else. From the audience's perspective, one experiences an immediacy, a very real connection not possible in film or television. It's true of dramas, comedies, and musicals. Anyone who's enjoyed good theater would certainly agree.

As a actor or production person in live theater, that special connection really explodes. The audience participates in live theater, but in a more passive role. To be on the creative side of things is truly where the magic happens. Throughout the entire process of conceiving and writing a show (which I'll have to imagine for now), to planning and visualizing , to casting and staging, to rehearsal, and finally to production—it's a collaborative and very enriching form of creating. I feel that a community theater is not just made of people from a given community; it also becomes a community as it prepares and puts up a show. Even when I started doing shows in high school, there was a very strong sense of community involved in the process. That was a big part of what got me hooked.

I've been involved in more serious, artsy drama such as Streetcar Named Desire and Pillowman (a Martin McDonagh play that must be seen to be believed). And there is no denying the spiritual nature of good drama to touch people. The same is definitely true of musicals, some of which have scores that will make you cry or inspire you immeasurably. And in a good comedy, there is a spiritual life of its own. Yes, it's often seen as escapism. But that should not denigrate its value. It connects us too. Victor Borge said it very well: Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.