“Blithe Spirit” play comes to the Miniaci Performing Arts Center

Cardinal Gibbons High School will present its rendition of “Blithe Spirit” at the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center from March 31 April 2.

“Blithe Spirit” is a 1940s comic play that follows novelist Charles Condomine. When searching for content for his new book, Charles hires a medium, Madame Arcati, to conduct a seance. The seance backfires for Charles, and it summons the spirit of his temperamental deceased wife Elvira. The spirit of Elvira then makes attempts to disrupt Charle’s marriage with his current wife Ruth.

High school senior Jacqueline Maniscalco is preparing to take on the role of Elvira from “Blithe Spirit.”

Maniscalco said her favorite thing about playing Elvira is her mysteriousness to the audience and being out to mess with her husband’s current marriage.

“I think people can expect to see a lot of ghost activity, mystery and just strange acting from the seance,” said Maniscalco.

Laurence Christopher, drama teacher and director at Cardinal Gibbons, encourages others to watch the play for its narrative themes and mystery elements.

“It’s a pretty cool journey about Charles’s wife and you sort of watch as the husband changes his approach to addressing and speaking to women,” said Christopher. “The technical aspect of the show is the most exciting. The show has a lot of magic and mystery behind it.”