Thunder Ridge High School Drama presented the first school drama, Blithe Spirit, March 14, 15 and 16.

   The play was written by Noel Coward and takes place in England in the 1940’s. This play starts out with Charles Condomine (Jake Bryan) and his wife Ruth (Chiara Cannon) inviting self-proclaimed medium Madame Arcati (Nicole Bigler) along with the Bradmans (Christian Larsen and Anne Evans) to his home for a séance, hoping to gather material for a new book.

    When the psychic accidentally summons the spirit of Condomine’s late wife, Elvira (Ladriel Wheeler), his home and life are quickly turned into a shambles as his first wife’s ghost torments Charles, Ruth, and even the maid Edith (Tyra Strickland).

   The cast and script set high expectations for their performances and the audience was met with a performance that exceeded those high expectations . The set was absolutely beautiful the colors complemented each other perfectly, and the painted wallpaper turned out amazing. The acting in this play was very well done. Their accents were nicely tackled.

   There were many small details like Ruth’s toe tapping in irritation, and Dr.Bradman’s suppressing his laughter during the seance. The costumes were perfect for the era, and Elvira’s costume was spot on.

   Over all this play was very good but there were three small things that could be improved for future performances. First, Elvira’s cheekbone contour needed to be blended slightly more. Second was that sometimes cast members didn’t make eye contact while they were arguing. The third small thing was that Madame Arcati needed to slow down a bit. With her accent, slowing down helps the audience understand what is being said. Despite those three things, it was a great play.

   The Thunder Ridge Drama Department did an absolutely fantastic job! Make sure to catch Guys and Dolls on April 25, 26, and 27 at 7:30 pm.