Blithe Spirit au Apollo Theatre

Blithe Spirit opened in 1941 when it played for over 2,000 performances. It has been one of the world's favourite comedies ever since.

Novelist Charles Condomine and his second wife Ruth are literally haunted by a past relationship when an eccentric medium manages to conjure up the ghost of Charles's neurotic first wife, Elvira, at a seance.

They have assumed the preposterous Madame Arcati is a fraud who will simply entertain their dinner guests with a little chicanery and supply Charles with material for his forthcoming novel. But when Elvira appears, visible only to Charles, and is determined to sabotage his current marriage, life - and the afterlife - begin to get complicated.

Written by noel Coward, Blithe Spirit will star Alison Steadman as Madame Arcati.