NOEL Coward’s spirited comedy, Blithe Spirit, is a much more serious play than most people remember.

Madame Arcati is the one that sticks in the mind rather than the dark streak running through the story.

In Damian Cruden’s top notch revival, Nichola McAuliffe’s Arcati is a deliciously comic creation with a lilting Welsh accent, curious dress sense and increasingly quirky physicality. But she rarely goes over the top, remaining fun and funny and just about within the bounds of credibility (although sitting in a tin bath clutching a tuba comes perilously close to crossing the line).

Her battiness contrasts with the ménage a trois at the heart of the comedy, namely Charles Condomine and his two wives – Ruth, who’s alive and kicking off, and Elvira, who’s a ghost summoned during a seance.

They are a pretty unpleasant bunch who are selfish, rude and mischievous – and, quite honestly, deserve all they get. Andrew Hall’s dedicatedly suave Charles is puzzled and annoyed when his dead wife Elvira ( Amy Rockson) materialises, determined to have her ex-husband all to herself.

His current wife Ruth (Caroline Harker) has a sharp tongue and brittle manner that makes you wonder what Charles saw in her in the first place.

All three actors are a treat as are the contributions from Blair Plant and Rachel Atkins as dinner guest the Bradmans, and not forgetting Louise Calf who milks the role of the maid, Edith, for all it’s worth.

  • Blithe Spirit runs until Saturday, May 31. Box office 01904 623568 and yorktheatreroyal.co.uk Steve Pratt