Plays 52 - Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward

10. Blithe Spirit - Noël Coward

'Blithe Spirit' is a light-hearted romp about a writer and the women in his life; his current wife and the spirit of his first wife and how he attempts to break free of their supposed oppression.

Charles Condomine and his wife, Ruth, have invited their friends Dr Bradman and his wife, Violet to a séance as research for a thriller novel he is writing. Charles has also invited the notorious Madame Arcati so that he can observe a medium at work and garner some of the jargon and "tricks of the trade" that she employs. The tone of the event is tongue-in-cheek as both he and his guests assume that she is a charlatan. Madame Arcati arrives and tells how she is a little late because she had a premonition that she would get a puncture on her bicycle and returned home to get her pump. Much to the amusement of all assembled she reveals that she did not get one after all, Charles says ironically that she may get one on the way home.

Madame Arcati is very theatrical as she sets up the séance, telling everyone about the elemental spirits and poltergeists and introducing her guide, a child named Daphne who is quite mischievous. As Madame Arcati begins and she makes contact with Daphne who tells her that someone on the other side wishes to speak to Charles. Daphne then goes silent and Madame Arcati decides she must go into a trance to channel the spirit herself. Much to everyone's distress, the table begins to shake and Charles is astounded when his late first wife, Elvira, speaks and only he can hear her. He then hurriedly ends the séance and wakes Madame Arcati who leaves, somewhat crestfallen thinking she has failed, yet with the feeling that something has happened.

After Madame Arcati has left, everyone discusses whether or not she is a fake and Charles comes to the conclusion that she is somewhat deluded. The Bradmans leave and Elvira then appears to Charles in physical form. Much confusion is created when he addresses, and later admonishes Elvira, with Ruth thinking that he is talking to her. Ruth is in disbelief but later tries very hard to humour him as she clearly thinks that he is not well. She says that she will call Dr Bradman in the morning after Charles has got a good night's sleep, but Charles insists that he is alright. He attempts to prove that Elvira is there by getting her to play the piano, and to Ruth's utter shock she does so.

The next day, Ruth invites Madame Arcati to come back and attempt an exorcism; however she upsets her by revealing Charles' intentions for the séance: as a means to watch a supposed charlatan at work as research for his thriller novel. Charles is very relaxed about the whole thing and says that it is a unique opportunity and they should all try to enjoy it. However Ruth is determined and in a temper says that the following morning she will visit the Psychical Research Society and if they will not help, the Archbishop of Canterbury. She clearly thinks that they will be better equipped to carry out an exorcism than Madame Arcati.

A little while later, Charles and his maid, Edith, have both fallen down the stairs, apparently slipping on some axel grease which had been spread over the top of the stairs. Dr Bradman examines them both and says that Charles is suffering from nervous exhaustion and should rest. Ruth later tells Charles that she believes Elvira is trying to kill him off so she can have him to herself. Ruth then leaves with the car to contact Madame Arcati. Charles and Elvira have been planning a trip to Folkestone and it turns out that this was a ruse. Elvira has sabotaged the car, intending that Charles be killed in the inevitable crash; however it is Ruth that is now killed and returns angrily to confront Elvira.

Madame Arcati returns to attempt to sort things out and revels in the fact that she has been a part of bringing back someone from the other side. She establishes that there is someone else of psychic ability in the house and it turns out to be the maid, Edith. She comes down and while initially in denial, she inadvertently reveals that she can see both Elvira and Ruth. Madame Arcati begins the exorcism and in due course it appears as though Elvira and Ruth are gone. Warned that it may have been his love for his wives that manifested them in the first place, Charles actually seems very relieved to be free of them and it is doubtful whether he ever really loved them at all. Madame Arcati warns that although it appears as though they have gone, they may still remain in some form and it would be best for Charles to get away from the house for a while.

Charles then loudly denounces Ruth, Elvira and his unpresent Mother, saying that they have held him back and his entire life has been dominated by women. This forces their collective hand and they begin breaking ornaments and his records as he continues to rail against them. He says that he is now finally free to lead the life he wants to lead and can now enjoy himself.

Plays 52 - Look Back In Anger by John Osborne

9. Look Back In Anger - John Osborne

'Look Back in Anger' charts the tempestuous relationship between a young man, Jimmy Porter, and his wife Alison. They live together in the Midlands in a small flat with a Welshman named Cliff. The play contrasts the genuine affection that can exist in a romantic relationship with a kind of antagonism brought about by the disapproval of Alison's parents and Jimmy's own nebulous anger.

It is established that Alison comes from quite a well-to-do family and Jimmy is from a more working class background. Cliff is essentially a mediator between the two of them, he is very fond of both Jimmy and particulary Alison. Alison reveals to Cliff that she is pregnant, and she contemplates whether it is too late to terminate it. All through the first scene, Jimmy rants and rails at just about everything, including Alison and her apparent passivity, saying that the word "pusillanimous" sums her up entirely. Yet when Cliff leaves to buy some cigarettes, Jimmy and Alison are left on their own and they begin to cosy up and a completely different side to their relationship is seen. They begin playing a little game where they refer to themselves as a bear and a squirrel, and in this game they seem to be genuinely happy.

Their game is interrupted when Cliff returns with news that Helena, a friend of Alison's, is on the phone. Helena is an actress and doesn't have a place of her own to stay whilst performing in Birmingham and so she wants to stay with the three of them. Jimmy considers Helena to be a "natural enemy", seeing her as a threat to his relationship with Alison and plays his trumpet loudly, in another room, apparently to upset them both. Throughout the play Jimmy seems to use his trumpet playing as a weapon. In a conversation with Helena, Alison recalls her and Jimmy's early day, thrust together as they were in the face of her parent's interference. They both lived with a friend of Jimmy's named Hugh, a would-be novelist whose mother helped Jimmy set up a sweet selling business. Alison and Hugh did not get on, despite Jimmy's efforts. Shocked to see what has become of Alison, Helena arranges for Alison's father to come and take her home, Alison agrees and goes to pack her things. Alison tells Helena about their bear and squirrel game, saying that it is a coping mechanism and a way of escaping the business of being human, as animals with a kind of dumb affection for each other.

Just then, Jimmy receives news that Hugh's mother has suffered a stroke and is dying. He goes to London to be with her as there doesn't seem to be anyone else to look after her. He does not do this out of a sense of duty though, he clearly has a genuine affection for her, as Alison says - because she has been poor and ignorant for all of her life, and perhaps Jimmy identifies with this. Jimmy once again rails against Alison and says that he wishes that she would lose a child and endure all the suffering that would entail, not yet knowing that she actually is pregnant. Alison makes her stand and does not go with Jimmy, and instead goes to church with Helena in a defiant stand against her husband.

Alison and her Father muse on what went wrong with their marriage and the perhaps irreconcilable conflict between them, possibly exacerbated by himself and Alison's mother. It is suggested by Alison that Jimmy married her as an act of revenge in a class war, a fact that her father cannot comprehend. Jimmy returns to find Alison gone and Helena still staying there. Jimmy notes the significance that he was almost run over by Alison's father as she sat in the passenger seat, another jibe at her supposed passivity. Helena tells him that Alison is pregnant and Jimmy responds by saying that he is merely surprised, and that he has just spent a day watching someone die. Helena responds angrily to this and slaps Jimmy. However despite the ill-feelings between them, or perhaps because of them, they have a passionate clinch.

It is several months later and Jimmy and Helena are seen to be living "in sin" together, Helena seemingly filling the void left by Alison. Cliff announces that he is going to move out, clearly not comfortable with the changes that have occurred. It is at this point that Alison returns and in an inversion of earlier events, she now persuades Helena that she should leave, despite her strong feelings for Jimmy. She reveals to Jimmy that she lost the baby and is now suffering terribly, just as he wished her to. Jimmy then tries to comfort Alison, reverting to the bear and squirrel game, saying that they must look after each other due to the "steel traps" that exist to ensnare "slightly satanic little animals". There is a sense that they will fall back into the way of life they both led at the start.

Plays 52 - An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

8. An Inspector Calls - J.B. Priestley

An Inspector Calls is set in the Birling household one evening in 1912 and asks the question; just how responsible are we for our actions and the effects that those actions have on the lives of other people? A young woman named Eva Smith has just died after swallowing a large amount of disinfectant and a police inspector, Goole, calls upon the Birling family to investigate their involvement.

The head of the household, Arthur Birling, is a factory owner and former Lord Mayor. Arthur's wife Sybil is rather uptight and adopts an air of superiority. His daughter Sheila, a rather naive young woman, has become engaged to Gerald Croft and is in high spirits. Gerald is the son of Mr Birling's business rival but someone with whom he is keen to establish a partnership with that will be advantageous to both. Mr Birling's son Eric is a lively young man who is good humoured and is established as a prolific drinker, although his parent's treatment of him throughout makes him seem much younger than he actually is. There is a general mood of optimism in this opening scene, which is reflected in Arthur's speech. He betrays an overly optimistic forecast for the next 30 years, predicting a steadily increasing prosperity in a world where the problems of "labour versus capital" are a thing of the past.

Arthur later reveals to Gerald, in private, that he is on the brink of receiving a knighthood. He claims that people are basically alone in the world and must fend for themselves. It is at this point that Inspector Goole descends upon them, announcing the self-inflicted death of Eva Smith. His manner is ominous and he begins questioning each member of family in turn whilst revealing the turns Eva's life took and the events which led to her committing suicide.

Firstly, Goole reveals that Eva was dismissed from Mr Birling's factory, a fact that Mr Birling himself only remembers after Goole's prompting. Eva, despite being regarded as a good worker and a candidate for promotion, was apparently one of a few employees who were leading a strike in order that they may receive a slight pay rise. Mr Birling initially denies any responsibility for his part in Eva's demise.

Goole then turns his attention to Sheila. After being fired by Mr Birling, it is revealed that Eva got a job at Millwood's, a clothes shop that Sybil and Sheila frequent. Sheila was trying on a dress one day and caught a glimpse of Eva smiling at a colleague and later holding the same dress up to herself. Suspecting that Eva was mocking her, she used the leverage of her family's custom to have her fired. Sheila later confessed that she was envious of Eva's looks and thought that she could take care of herself as a result of this. She, unlike her father, shows much remorse and acknowledges her responsibility in Eva's downfall.

Unable to find a steady job, Eva changed her name to Daisy Renton and embarked on "another kind of life" apparently becoming a prostitute. His reaction to Eva's new name gives Gerald away and he is prompted into telling his part by both Inspector Goole and Sheila. Gerald had met Daisy at the Palace Bar, a notorious night-spot in town and escorted her home. She was being harassed by a gentleman familiar to the Birlings, one whom Sybil in particular is shocked to discover was at the Palace Bar. In fact, Sybil seems more shocked by this than by Eva's death. Although Gerald claims that they only talked on that first night, he finds her a place to live after a friend leaves him the keys to some rooms in town. They do ultimately become lovers but the relationship runs its course and Gerald leaves her, Daisy musing in her diary that she may never again be as happy as she was with him. At this point, Sheila gives Gerald back his engagement ring and he leaves the house, promising to return.

Goole continues and turns his attention to Sybil. It is now revealed that Daisy was pregnant when she died. Penniless and pregnant, Daisy went to seek the help of a charitable organisation for women in need, which is coincidentally run by Sybil. She initially lies to Sybil about her situation, calling herself 'Mrs Birling' and claiming that the father of the baby had died. Although she was then honest about her circumstances, Sybil had already taken a disliking to her and rejected her claim for assistance. This is revealed by Goole to be the tipping point for Daisy as she saw no way out of this predicament.

Goole then uses Sybil's moral superiority against her as he goads her into claiming that it is the father of the child who has full responsibility for Eva/Daisy's suicide. At this point Goole reveals to them that Eric is the baby's father. When she returned to her life of prostitution, Daisy became a conquest of Eric after a night of heavy drinking, the implication being that he bullied her into sleeping with him. Eric and Daisy began a predominantly sexual relationship and Daisy became pregnant. She didn't tell Eric and left him after she found out he has been supporting her with money stolen from his father's business. Eric does bear the burden of responsibility but Goole reminds everyone present that they all had a part to play, with Gerald apparently being the only one who had any affection for her at all.

It is also noted that at no point did Eva do any of the others any harm at all, yet cumulatively their actions resulted in the loss of her life. Goole warns them that a lesson must be learned from all this, otherwise they would be taught by "fire and anguish".

Once Goole leaves, Gerald returns and the family begin to muse upon the strangeness of Goole and of the situation as a whole. The elders in particular begin to speculate that Eva Smith/Daisy Renton may not even be one single person, since Goole only showed a photograph to each of them individually. Arthur also suspects that Goole was not a real police inspector at all and telephones the Chief Inspector to confirm this. Gerald also corroborates this after he had asked a policeman about Goole on his earlier walk, the officer having no knowledge of him.

Both Eric and Sheila are extremely upset about the whole situation, they are adamant that the story is real and that no amount of talking around it can absolve the others from guilt. With both Arthur and Sybil now claiming the entire story must be some kind of hoax, Gerald telephones the local infirmary to check whether anyone matching Eva's description have been admitted. Gerald discovers that no young women have been admitted that night, and no suicides have been reported for months. Arthur, Sybil and Gerald all breathe a sigh of relief that they have apparently been had.

However, the telephone rings and Arthur informs the others that just then, a young woman has been admitted to the infirmary after swallowing a large amount of disinfectant, and that an inspector is on his way.

Plays 52 - The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht

7. The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht

The Caucasian Chalk Circle is essentially a tale of motherhood in a time of conflict, which questions the very nature of motherhood and ownership. Two neighbouring Georgian communities who have been displaced by the Second World War, meet to negotiate over a piece of land whose ownership is in doubt. One group are goat farmers and the other fruit farmers. The play-within-a-play "The Chalk Circle" is presented by the hosting group as an attempt to resolve the conflict. It is notable that during the presentation of "The Chalk Circle", the scene changes are also performed, thereby distancing the audience somewhat.

"The Chalk Circle" starts with the Governor of a city; Georgi Abashvili, his wife Natella and entourage taking part in Easter Sunday celebrations. The family is shown to be decadently materialistic, in denial and concerning themselves with trivialities in the midst of an oncoming conflagration. Aggressors descend on the city and eventually kill the Governor, nailing his head to a post in the town square. His wife, persuaded by her attendants, attempts to flee but procrastinates. She is preoccupied by what dresses to take with her and she forgets to take her baby; Michael, with her when she eventually flees.

Baby Michael is found by Grusha, a servant of the Governor's house. She has recently got engaged to a soldier, Simon Chachava, who has to leave for the front. She sees the Governor's head in the town square and realises the danger that Michael faces. She decides to take the baby with her as she and the other servants flee.

Grusha struggles to make ends meet as she attempts to look after both herself and the child. After a while she decides that it is simply too much to bear and tries to leave the child with a couple at a farmhouse. However she goes back for him after an encounter with some pursuing soldiers. The soldiers find her back at the farmhouse and in a panic, the farmer's wife betrays her and Michael. The Corporal is shown to be aggressively lascivious, but Grusha manages to hit him over the head with a piece of wood and makes her escape with the baby. She resolves to go to her brother's farm in the mountains but discovers that her only route to safety is a rickety old bridge that can barely carry her and the baby's weight. She carefully picks her way across knowing that the soldiers, who are much heavier than she is, would never make it across.

Upon finding her brother, Grusha is persuaded to marry a soldier on his deathbed which will make her a widow and therefore will provide some degree of protection for her and the baby. It turns out however, that the soldier she has married was not as ill as everyone had thought yet she remains his wife for the sake of Michael.

Two years pass and Grusha has continued to look after Michael, raising him as her own child. The war has finally ended and Simon Chachava returns to find her married and bringing up the Governor's baby but he understands the situation. The war now over, Michael's biological mother returns and launches proceedings to reclaim him. It is here that Azdak is introduced, a village clerk who becomes a judge since the previous establishment has been overthrown. He listens to the claims of both Grusha (who he is openly suspicious of) and the Governor's wife who is represented by an expensive lawyer.

Azdak is unable to decide the parentage, so he announces that the only way to decide who should claim the child is to draw a chalk circle on the ground and place the child in the centre. Each potential mother should then attempt to pull the child out and whoever does so, 'wins' the child. At first, Natella pulls the child out but Grusha protests and Azdak agrees to let her try again. This time however, she breaks down and says that she cannot tear the child apart like this. This proves to be the answer that Azdak was looking for and he grants custody of the child to Grusha. He also dissolves her marriage to the dead soldier 'by mistake', thereby freeing her to marry Simon. Azdak also declares that the deceased Governor's estate should go to the City and fund a playground for the children. Afterwards, Grusha says to Simon that since Michael was born as she and Simon became engaged, he was a child of love after all.

This concludes the play and an epilogue is read to the conflicted communities which relates the play to their situation. It is stated that the 'prize', in this case the farmland, should go to the people who would best look after it.