Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit is a comedic play that follows Charles (an upper-to-upper-middle-class Englishman) as he deals with the accidental summoning of his dead 1st wife, Elvira. While this play deals with the supernatural, it is quite a witty and comedic take on a “ghost” story, which is often portrayed as a horror story. After reading this play, it stood out to me that love was a recurring topic throughout the play. There’s an unconventional love triangle between Charles, Elvira (1st wife, also dead), and Ruth (his current wife), and most of the conflict comes from Elvira wanting to get Charles back. Due to there being a 1st and 2nd wife, there’s also the conversation of what love (true love) is. For my design, I wanted there to be a balance between dark and light because we see a lot of contrasts happening in the play (the living & the dead, 1st love vs 2nd love, etc.). As well as adding some delicate details and floral details, so that it connects back to the sweeter side of love. As I was gathering inspiration for my design, I looked at a lot of arts & crafts interior work and pulled inspiration from William Morris for the Wall detailing. I also looked at a lot of English Countryside houses to get an idea of the general layout, along with some furniture from around the 1930s. I also kept in mind that I was designing a space that is owned by Charles & Ruth, to me they seem like the type of people that like to show off but act humble.