Blithe Spirit

Our friend Mr. Coward is back this season, and this time he’s got ghosts up his sleeve. Indeed, the situation at the heart of this mannered comedy is a fine one — an ill-conceived cocktail party séance brings one man’s ex back from the dead. She’s funny, needy and manipulative, and not necessarily in that order. This might be less of a problem if our man’s flesh-and-blood wife weren’t already a bit on the jealous side (can you say “perpetual cat fight”?). With all the sophisticated humor you expect of Coward, Blithe Spirit is prime-time stuff – only better.