I had a great pleasure to go to the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto to see the play by Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit”. It was such a treat; two of the main characters were delightfully played by Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote, of course) and Charles Edwards (Michael Grayson from Downton Abbey). The theatre was full to the last seat, actors received a standing ovation for their performance – the whole spectacle I considered to be quite an event!

The plot, light and easy farce, brought to my mind a lot more then just a laugh. We can think about changing values and prerogatives. About supremacy and submission. Noel Coward, regarded as highly talented writer and a very smart person, showed us the picture of hypocrisy in the face of confrontation between “valuable citizens”and so-called medium, who is invited to perform a spiritual séance as a case study for Charles Edwards, who plans to writes another book.

All would be great if we could just enjoy the plot and the performance. But after the first euphoria, some of us should think about how this plot would be presented today. Hidden romantic life of spouses, infidelity vs. permanently expressed love, pretentious life of high society and their ostentatiously presented superiority seems to be so far fetched and yet so familiar to us today.

But the most important realization would be that, regardless how much we will pretend that the past does not matter, it lives with us at every moment of every day and night. Hence, however first wife died seven years ago, she is constantly present in second wife’s life. She lives with them permanently. So, no wonder that after the séance nobody else but she comes and stays indefinitely. It does not make any sense to reveal the clue of this play, since you may chose to go and enjoy it for yourself. It does bring the point, though, that no relationship will ever be valuable if the past is not closed and dealt with. If we are not able to clear cut the past and open a new chapter with clean hands. Our hero of the play finally comes to that conclusion - very funny and unusual way…

If you are in Toronto, try to get tickets (it is not easy) and have fun with reflection…

Since, us Confucius said:

By three methods we may learn wisdom:

-First, by reflection, which is noblest;

-Second, by imitation, which is easiest;

-Third, by experience, which is the bitterest.

Let’s do it with style and do it by the noblest!