Unfinished Business

Noel Coward’s surprisingly durable stage comedy Blithe Spirit debuted in London in 1941 and still hasn’t give up the ghost. In fact, it’s one of the longest running non-musical plays ever, having come to Broadway and appeared in film, on television, and in revival on stages around the world. Now it’s given new life at the theater arts program at American International College (AIC).

The love triangle, of sorts, concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites eccentric medium and clairvoyant Madame Arcati to his home to conduct a séance in an effort to gather material for his next book concerning the afterlife. It all backfires when Charles is subsequently haunted by the ghost of his jealous and “spirited” first wife Elvira, who makes continual efforts to interfere with his marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear Elvira. AIC department head Frank Borrelli promises witty dialogue, physical humor and farce, and “lots of special effects.”

Blithe Spirit: Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. Free; donations appreciated. Griswold Theater, Karen Sprague Cultural Arts Center, American International College, 1000 State St., Springfield. (413) 654-1486, frank.borrelli@aic.edu.

— Hunter Styles