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May 25, 2026

Blithe Spirit – Meet the cast – Madame Arcati ( Helena Gomm )

When Charles and Ruth Condomine invite Madame Arcati into their home to conduct a séance, they firmly believe that she is a charlatan and will provide useful material for the character of the fraudulent medium that Charles is planning to include in his next book. However, it turns out that – though undoubtedly eccentric – Madame Arcati is no fraud and she really does have the powers that she claims to possess, even though she is as mystified as anyone about how to get rid of the ghost of a dead wife once you have conjured one up.

It is a wonderful part to play – one of the greatest character roles in British theatre – and one where you can have an enormous amount of fun. When it comes to Madame Arcati, almost anything goes, so long as you don’t for one second give the impression that she is anything less than completely serious and you ensure that you maintain a sense of her utter belief in herself.