Editing Blithe Spirit (play) (section)

===Britain===
In July 1970 the play was revived in the West End at the [[Gielgud Theatre|Globe Theatre]], starring [[Patrick Cargill]] as Charles, [[Phyllis Calvert]] as Ruth, Amanda Reiss as Elvira and [[Beryl Reid]] as Madame Arcati; it ran until January 1971.<ref>"Theatres", ''The Times'', 23 July 1970; and 14 January 1971, p. 10</ref> It was revived by [[Royal National Theatre|the National Theatre]] in 1976 in a production directed by [[Harold Pinter]], starring [[Richard Johnson (actor)|Richard Johnson]] as Charles, [[Rowena Cooper]] as Ruth, [[Maria Aitken]] as Elvira and [[Elizabeth Spriggs]] as Madame Arcati.<ref name=mb1/> Another London revival played in 1986 at the [[Vaudeville Theatre]], starring [[Simon Cadell]] as Charles, [[Jane Asher]] as Ruth, [[Joanna Lumley]] as Elvira and [[Marcia Warren]] as Madame Arcati.<ref>"Blithe Spirit", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 1 February 1986, p. 12</ref> A 1997 revival at the [[Chichester Festival]], directed by [[Tim Luscombe]], featured [[Steven Pacey]] (Charles), [[Belinda Lang]] (Ruth), [[Twiggy]] (Elvira) and [[Dora Bryan]] as Madame Arcati.<ref>Spencer, Charles. "Comic turns and piquant pleasures", ''The Daily Telegraph'', 19 June 1997, p. 29</ref>

[[File:AngelaLansbury 2009.jpg|thumb|[[Angela Lansbury]] following a performance of the play in 2009]]
The piece was back in the West End at the [[Savoy Theatre]] in 2004, in a production directed by [[Thea Sharrock]], starring [[Aden Gillett]] as Charles, [[Joanna Riding]] as Ruth, [[Amanda Drew]] as Elvira and [[Penelope Keith]] (succeeded by [[Stephanie Cole]]) as Madame Arcati. Matt Wolf wrote in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', "Sharrock and her company land every laugh in a play that induces an indecent amount of pleasure while never letting us forget the extent to which ''Blithe Spirit'' comes marinated in pain."<ref name=Wolf1>Wolf, Matt. [https://variety.com/2004/legit/reviews/blithe-spirit-6-1200529325 "''Blithe Spirit''"], ''Variety'', 28 November 20014. Retrieved 3 March 2021</ref>

Sharrock directed a revival of her production of the play, which started as a UK tour<ref>[http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/06-2010/steadman-spirit-confirms-west-end-and-tour-dates_12849.html "Steadman ''Spirit'' Confirms West End & Tour Dates"], ''What'sOnStage'', 30 June 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2014</ref> and then moved to the [[Apollo Theatre]], London. It ran there from March to June 2011, with a cast including [[Robert Bathurst]] as Charles, [[Hermione Norris]] as Ruth, [[Ruthie Henshall]] as Elvira and [[Alison Steadman]] as Madame Arcati.<ref>[[Michael Billington (critic)|Billington, Michael]]. [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/mar/10/bilthe-spirit-review?INTCMP=SRCH "Blithe Spirit: review"], ''The Guardian'', 10 March 2011</ref>

A West End production, directed by [[Michael Blakemore]], opened at the [[Gielgud Theatre]] in March 2014, with [[Charles Edwards (English actor)|Charles Edwards]] as Charles, [[Janie Dee]] as Ruth, [[Jemima Rooper]] as Elvira, [[Angela Lansbury]] as Madame Arcati, and Jones as Dr Bradman as in Blakemore's 2009 Broadway production. It ran until June.<ref>Billington, Michael. [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/mar/18/blithe-spirit-review-fine-noel-coward-revival "Blithe Spirit review: The play's the thing in a fine Noël Coward revival"], ''The Guardian'', 18 March 2014</ref>

A revival at the [[Theatre Royal Bath]] in 2019 was followed by a UK tour and a West End run at the [[Duke of York's Theatre]] that opened in March 2020. After 12 performances, it was interrupted due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]]. The production starred [[Jennifer Saunders]] as Madame Arcati and [[Richard Eyre]] directed. [[Geoffrey Streatfeild]] and [[Lisa Dillon]] played Charles and Ruth Condomine, [[Simon Coates (actor)|Simon Coates]] and [[Lucy Robinson (actress)|Lucy Robinson]] were Dr and Mrs Bradman, [[Emma Naomi]] played Elvira and Rose Wardlaw was Edith. Design was by [[Anthony Ward]], lighting by Howard Harrison, sound by John Leonard and illusions by [[Paul Kieve]].<ref>Swain, Marianka. [https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/BWW-Review-BLITHE-SPIRIT-Duke-of-Yorks-Theatre-20200311 "BWW Review: ''Blithe Spirit'', Duke of York's Theatre"], BroadwayWorld.com, 11 March 11, 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.bestoftheatre.co.uk/blog/post/jennifer-saunders-blithe-spirit "Jennifer Saunders returns to ''Blithe Spirit'' in West End from 16 September"], Bestoftheatre.co.uk, 29 May 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021</ref>

The Eyre production returned to the West End for a limited run from September to November 2021 at the [[Harold Pinter Theatre]] with the same cast and crew, except that [[Madeleine Mantock]] played Elvira.<ref>Purves, Libby. [https://britishtheatre.com/review-blithe-spirit-harold-pinter-theatre "Review: ''Blithe Spirit'', Harold Pinter Theatre London"], BritishTheatre.com, 23 September 2021</ref>

====London casts, 1970 to 2019====
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: left; margin-right: 0;"
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Roles'''
| '''1970'''
| '''1976'''
| '''1986'''
| '''2004'''
| '''2011'''
| '''2014'''
| '''2019'''
|- style="text-align:center;"
|
| '''[[Gielgud Theatre|Globe]]'''
| '''[[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] '''
| '''[[Vaudeville Theatre|Vaudeville]]'''
| '''[[Savoy Theatre|Savoy]]'''
| '''[[Apollo Theatre|Apollo]]'''
| '''[[Gielgud Theatre|Gielgud]]'''
| '''[[Harold Pinter Theatre|Harold Pinter]]'''
|-
| Charles
| [[Patrick Cargill]]
| [[Richard Johnson (actor)|Richard Johnson]]
| [[Simon Cadell]]
| [[Aden Gillett]]
| [[Robert Bathurst]]
| [[Charles Edwards (actor)|Charles Edwards]]
| [[Geoffrey Streatfeild]]
|-
| Ruth
| [[Phyllis Calvert]]
| [[Rowena Cooper]]
| [[Jane Asher]]
| [[Joanna Riding]]
| [[Hermione Norris]]
| [[Janie Dee]]
| [[Lisa Dillon]]
|-
| Elvira
| Amanda Reiss
| [[Maria Aitken]]
| [[Joanna Lumley]]
| [[Amanda Drew]]
| [[Ruthie Henshall]]
| [[Jemima Rooper]]
| [[Emma Naomi]]
|-
| Madame Arcati
| [[Beryl Reid]]
| [[Elizabeth Spriggs]]
| [[Marcia Warren]]
| [[Penelope Keith]]
| [[Alison Steadman]]
| [[Angela Lansbury]]
| [[Jennifer Saunders]]
|-
| Dr Bradman
| John Hart Dyke
| [[Geoffrey Chater]]
| Roger Hume
| Derek Hutchinson
| [[Bo Poraj]]
| [[Simon Jones (actor)|Simon Jones]]
| [[Simon Coates (actor)|Simon Coates]]
|-
| Mrs Bradman
| Daphne Newton
| [[Joan Hickson]]
| Eira Griffiths
| Barbara Kirby
| Charlotte Thornton
| Sandra Shipley
| [[Lucy Robinson (actress)|Lucy Robinson]]
|-
| Edith
| Sylvia Brayshay
| Susan Williamson
| Lynette McMarrough
| [[Michelle Terry]]
| Jodie Taibi
| Susan Louise O'Connor
| Rose Wardlaw
|}