“I grew up in the French Quarter
til I was 12 and then we moved up
to the Garden District,” recalled
Harmon. “It was certainly something that was part of the culture.
Ghosts, voodoo. A lot of people
talked about having ghosts in
their houses. You heard about it a
lot in the music, the literature, and
just living in the French Quarter
-- it’s so old and it has such an old
world charm... You do have a feeling of the past and in things being
haunted. I find it very interesting
that Cape May has the same thing.
It also has the feeling of the Civil
War, doesn’t it?”
Harmon describes “Blithe Spirit”
as a play full of gaiety, great wit
and humor. “It’s very frothy,” she
adds. “It’s incredibly sophisticated, light and fun. I think the
language just sparkles. It’s wonderfully witty and fun and also
incredibly human. It’s about relationships and the complexities of
relationships and the complexities
of marriage. How do you go forward?
New Jersey Stage
“One of the things I love about
Madame Arcati is that she’s full of
such spirit,” Harmon continued.
“She has these wonderful phrases
like ‘Down with your head, up
with your heart, and you’re over
the top like a flash and skimming
down the other side like a dragonfly.’ She’s full of great spirit and
not giving up, just moving forward. I think it’s interesting that
Coward wrote the play during
a time when the nation was be-
August 2014
pg 30